Stranger Than Fiction
by destinykeyblade
Summary: The number of strange things Sora and company have seen since their adventure began is dizzying. Riku, having traveled for a time on the darker paths through life, has encountered things more bizarre than even Sora could imagine, things both real and simply in his head, but this? This beats them all by a long shot. It's like that old saying goes: the truth is stranger than fiction.
1. Chapter 1

Hey. Remember me? Yeah, I live. I know, it's a shock after all this time. I've learned recently that I am incredibly slow when it comes to writing anymore. Sorry about that.

*exhales slowly* Alright, everybody. Get ready for a weird and possibly wild ride. I legit do not know how this crap happened, but it did. A lot. Before editing, this first chapter is 11,994 words, and I have no excuse for it other than there was no good place to cut it off DX So if you stay, you better be in for the long haul. Reasons you might not want to stay: I personally hate this first chapter; it just feels so weird to me, like I needed to do it better, but I couldn't figure out how to so it had to stay how it was. Also, 'what is canon' is kind of the question for this story - I've bent it so far I'm surprised it hasn't broken by now. In fact, most of this is headcanon, actually, so let me explain a few of those before we get started, otherwise you'll be very lost, methinks.

1 - I've never played a KH game further along in the timeline than 2, so everything I write here about how the characters' lives proceeded is pure conjecture. Assume with me that Sora knows about Roxas and has all his memories intact, even Castle Oblivion. We're also gonna say for the sake of the story that time flows differently in all the worlds, and that if you spend enough time traveling between them, your own aging kind of stops because it doesn't know which timestream to synch you to.

2 - Accept as fact that: Sephiroth and Zack once had an adventure in Spira, during the X-2 timeline, and gallivanted around the globe with the ladies; also, because I know he appeared in Birth By Sleep, we are going to assume that Zack is not dead in this continuity, and neither is Angeal - they both hang out on their home world with eachother and Genesis, because what else are they gonna do, really, but! Sephiroth remembers the timeline in which they died, and while none of the FFVII cast really understands why they're not anymore, both Sephiroth and Cloud have decided not to question it and just be grateful.

I think that's all you need to know just now for this to make a little bit of sense - if something else occurs to me, I'll be sure to to add it in the next chapter's note. For now, let's not make this gargantuan chapter any longer than it already is, eh? Onward, brave souls!

* * *

 _Riku._

"...Nng... Hm?"

 _Riku._

The silver-haired teen yawned as he sat up, opening bleary eyes and turning them toward his companion. "Sora, 'd you say sum'un?" he asked, his diction suffering as he attempted to clear the fogginess of sleep from his mind.

An answering yawn came from the brunette-turned-blonde as he shook his head and stretched out his skinny limbs, falling backwards into the sand to better bask in the island sun. "Nope," he replied, yawning again. "You're hearin' stuff."

Riku rolled his eyes and nudged the other boy with his foot. " 'f I'm awake now, you gotta be too," he mumbled, kicking him lightly. Sora groaned, but pulled himself back up, then slumped forward over his knees.

"But the sun's so waaaaarrm," he complained, turning his face up to it. "It drains my energy. Why'd y' think I slept so much before the worlds got connected? It makes me tired." Sora sighed, but leapt to his feet in a maneuver that always made Kairi glower at him, saying that he would hurt himself. Riku never bothered trying to dissuade him - after seeing all the stupid stunts the Keyblade Master pulled on his skateboard, he knew it was unlikely that any injury would come from this. "So if we're not gonna nap, what are we gonna do?" Sora asked, raking his hand through his spiky hair.

 _Riku!_

The older boy tensed slightly, but tried to hide his discomfort. All they'd been through battling the darkness had turned Sora into a bit of a worrier, and anyway, it was probably nothing; just some remnant of a dream lingering in his mind. He climbed to his feet and shook the grains of sand from his straight silver curtain, unable to resist fluffing it afterwards. Sora nearly went back to the beach with his laughter, but Riku ignored him - he wasn't going to go around with it looking ruffled, and that was that. "I'm not sure," he answered, turning to gaze out at the ocean and the sky. The shades of blue were different, but they always met at the horizon, regardless, and seeing it always brought a slight smile to his face. Different didn't mean they couldn't coexist. "What do you wan-"

 _ **RIKU!**_

He broke off, gasping involuntarily as he fell to his knees in the same manner. Sora echoed the strange shout with a concerned cry, joining him on the sand and grabbing onto his shoulders. "Riku?!"

 _ **Riku! Are you listening?!**_

"Can you hear me?!"

Riku moaned, unable to hold back the sound. A sharp pain had stabbed at his head when the roar of his name had sounded within it, and as the voice from nowhere continued to speak to him, the feeling of his mind being impaled by a blade intensified. Sora's calls, progressively louder and more panicked and right next to his ear, didn't help any.

 _ **Answer me, Riku! Are you listening to me?**_

"Yes," he choked out, mercifully shutting up Sora as he tried to decide whether Riku was answering him or not. "I... hear you..."

 _ **Good,**_ the voice thundered, and Riku whimpered, screwing his eyes shut from the enormous volume and pain. He waited, panting, for it to continue, then gasped and tensed up again as the pain began to recede, the sudden change accompanied by a new sensation. Though there was no one there but Sora, nor anything around to touch him, Riku felt a gentle weight on his head, as though someone were lightly resting a hand there. The shining strands covering his eyes didn't move, but for a moment he thought they had, feeling like the hand had pushed them away. A quick, soothing brush against his cheek came next, falsely wiping away a tear that had formed and slipped down down his face.

 _ **I'm... sorry,**_ came the apology, followed by the feeling of the hand against his cheek again. _**I've not done this for quite some time, and besides, gentleness is... not my forte. I... didn't mean to hurt you.**_

"...Who... are you?" he asked quietly, unable to get much volume out of himself.

"What?!" Sora yelped, tightening his grip. "It's me, Riku! It's Sora!" Hurt flashed through his deep blue eyes when Riku managed to raise his head to shoot him a withering look, but the older boy couldn't muster up the energy to care at the moment.

"Not you," he muttered, taking advantage of his friend's presence and leaning forward to lay his forehead against the blonde's shoulder. "Voice... in my head." Sora's terror was palpable and - unfortunately - very audible as he began to screech out something Riku didn't bother trying to interpret.

 _ **You don't have to speak out loud,**_ the voice said, sounding slightly irritated. _**I'm not on your island, after all.**_

 _So where are you?_ Riku countered mentally, hoping it would work and feeling a brief flash of satisfaction when the voice began to answer, though the words quickly banished it.

 _ **That's not important at the moment. What matters is that you and Sora have to get to your Gummi Ship, NOW.**_

 _Why?_ the teen demanded. _I'm not in the habit of listening to voices in my head._

 _ **Cloud,**_ he - for whoever was speaking was clearly masculine, Riku noted now that the feeling of being stabbed was almost gone and he could think again - replied. _**You know him, do you not? Are a friend to him?**_

 _Yes,_ Riku said somewhat cautiously, unsure of where this might be going.

 _ **Then do as I say,**_ he said imperiously, with the air of one used to giving commands and seeing them followed. Riku bristled at the tone of his mind-voice. He was particularly un-fond of being controlled in any way after Ansem.

 _No,_ the youth almost growled, and he sensed a feeling of shock from whoever he was talking to. _I'm not moving until I get answers. Who are you, for one? Why do you want us to get in the Gummi Ship? Where are we supposed to be going? And why are you in my head?!_

What goes around comes around, Riku thought to himself as he was also growled at, though it sounded more feral, a snarl. _**You're wasting time!**_ the man exclaimed angrily, and Riku grunted, falling more on Sora and raising a hand to his head. The bit of pain vanished almost instantly, followed by another disembodied caress. _**I- sorry.**_ Though he had no earthly idea what the owner of the deep voice might look like, Riku envisioned him running a hand through his hair. _**I don't mean to cause you harm. But you ARE wasting time,**_ he said, raising his voice just enough to get the point of his emotions across without anymore hurt to the sixteen year-old. _**There's not enough left to answer all that. Cloud is hurt, and in further danger. You and Sora must go to Radiant Garden, quickly. He needs help, and I... can no longer give it.**_

As he broke off into a cough, it registered suddenly in Riku's mind how _tired_ the voice had sounded throughout the entirety of the conversation, and though he wasn't quite certain how to go about it, he attempted to reach out with his consciousness and touch whomever he was communicating with, as had been done for him. He jumped, startling the nearly forgotten Sora when he felt as though his hand had been slapped. _**Don't waste energy,**_ the man admonished, coughing once more. _**Just get in your vessel and come to Radiant Garden, or Cloud will not survive, nor will any of your other friends.**_

 _And you?_ Riku asked rather softly, feeling solemn. He didn't answer for a moment.

 _ **...I am probably going to die regardless,**_ he said at last, and Riku knew from Sora's resumed babbling that he had shown how he felt about that on his face. _**I am injured. It... feels severe.**_

 _Feels?_

The man chuckled mirthlessly, and the sound was strained. _**I haven't looked,**_ he admitted, and Riku could somehow sense him grimacing. _**While I generally have a high tolerance for pain, and no problems with the sight of 'blood and guts,' I am somewhat afraid that I might lose consciousness if I look down.**_

Drawing in a deep breath, Riku rose to his feet, pulling a once again startled Sora up with him and looking into his eyes. "We need to get to Radiant Garden," he said, reasonably pleased when his voice did not tremble. "Cloud and the others may be in danger."

Sora was blinking rapidly, clearly flabbergasted, but recovered enough to nod and turn towards the world exit. "Can you-" he tried, cutting off and shaking his head. "Can- are you... okay?" the younger teen asked helplessly, looking him over. Riku nodded but didn't speak, simply striding along beside him, and the two made quick progress to the Gummi Ship. Once aboard, Riku strapped himself into the co-pilot's seat, pressing a few buttons, but allowing Sora to do the majority of the flying. As soon as they reached the vast expanse of blue in which all the worlds floated, Riku leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, reaching out once more.

 _Are you still... there?_ he asked tentatively, wondering faintly what he would do if he received no answer.

 _ **Are you under way?**_ the voice responded after a brief silence, and Riku let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.

 _Yes,_ he replied, _we're heading for Radiant Garden now. But_ you _still haven't answered my questions. Who are you, and why are you in my head?_ Though he was still curious as to the answers, repeating his inquiries was more a gambit to keep the man talking now than for gathering the information. Still, he made sure to place the right amount of sternness and stubbornness into his mental voice. _How are you talking to me?_

A heavy sigh came from the other end of the connection, and Riku wondered with slight amusement when he had started thinking of this as a phone call. _**I cannot answer that.**_

 _Why?_ Riku demanded. _I know you know._ A bold-faced lie. _Tell me,_ he said forcefully.

The silence was longer this time, but his companion spoke back up. _**No. There is a reason,**_ he said, interrupting the silver-haired boy before he could express his indignation, _**and though I**_ **will** _ **make it known, I will not tell it to you now.**_

 _And why not?_

Another sigh. _**It is of some importance, and this... connection... is like a phone call-**_ (despite the severity of both the situation and conversation, Riku was forced to suppress laughter at the fact that he was not alone in his perception of their bond.) _**-and it is not something to be said unless it is spoken in person.**_

The levity in his heart died away as Riku considered something the man had said. _You're hurt. What if... I can't heal you... before-_

 _ **Then it will no longer matter,**_ he answered infuriatingly. _**Fly faster. Cloud-**_

 _Who are you?!_ Riku interrupted with no little anger in his tone. _Sora introduced me to everyone in Radiant Garden after we saved the worlds from the Nobodies, and I have no idea who you might be._

 _ **It is not-**_

 _You tell me or I will take control of this Gummi Ship and turn it back around,_ Riku threatened vehemently. _And before you say it, yes, I_ WILL _do it. Tell me._ _Now._ But the silence that followed the words was his only, resounding answer.

"We're getting close," Sora piped up, glancing over at him, and Riku cracked an eye open to meet his gaze. "Where do we need to get off?"

 _ **The Crystal Fissure,**_ the voice spoke in answer, and Riku relayed the message, feeling a bit of fear creep unbidden into his heart at the increased weariness and weakness evident in it. _**Cloud is at the Dark Depths. The Heartless have not died out yet, and they are surrounding him. You must hurry.**_

Riku took a breath, then let it out in a sigh of his own. _Just tell me your name. ...Please. You said you helped Cloud, right? That makes you an ally in my book. Just... tell me. Who are you?_

Again there was silence save for the sound of the Gummi Ship's engines, and Riku opened both eyes to help Sora with the landing sequence, resigning himself to the fact that he would receive no answer. As they set down in Radiant Garden and rushed down the gangplank, setting off for their destination, Riku summoned Soul Eater and steeled himself for a difficult battle. Whatever Heartless had managed to hang on despite that they should have been long dead were bound to be tough, and-

 _ **Sephiroth.**_

Riku staggered slightly, not having expected to hear anything else, but righted himself before Sora noticed his stumble. _What?_

 _ **My name is Sephiroth.**_ In his shocked mental silence (wasn't the name of...?!) Riku clearly heard his correspondent take a labored breath. _**Cloud won't last much longer, Riku. ...And I don't think I will, either.**_ Then the silence fell again, and Riku increased his speed, gesturing for Sora to do the same. In moments, they had made their way up the hill and burst onto the open plateau where the battle was taking place.

~.~.~.~

Cloud's breath was beginning to come in quick puffs, his heartbeat erratic, and the muscles in his arms quivering with the effort of holding the Buster Sword aloft. The strain of dodging a wild leap from one of the Heartless forced him down to one knee, and the blonde warrior gritted his teeth, struggling to rise back up.

"Curaga!" shouted a familiar youthful voice, and Cloud gave a surprised inhale as energy surged back into his battered form, wasting no time in taking advantage of his position on the ground to push off and lunge at a Defender that had turned its back to him upon hearing the new voice. The sharp, heavy blade of his inherited sword cleaved the blue and purple Heartless in two, but he didn't bother watching it burst apart in the customary flash of light. Instead, Cloud dodged again - not an enemy this time, but the grinning boy who had quite literally flown over the Heartless to land beside him, his Ultima Weapon Keyblade gleaming. "Hiya, Cloud," he said cheerfully, standing back-to-back with the man so often referred to as a chocobo. Said man didn't answer verbally, simply nodding in acknowledgement before leaping back into the fray, Sora copying him.

Riku, meanwhile, ran along the edges, casting spells at the Green Requiems and Crescendos that hovered and hopped about the battlefield, respectively. _This'll be much easier if I take out the healers first,_ he thought to himself as he too hopped around, dodging the blows of the larger Heartless, swinging his ridged Keyblade through the healing enemies he could reach and firing off a Graviga spell at those he couldn't yet, pulling them down to his level. He couldn't stop a smirk from forming on his face. _I love being the smart one._

 _ **Ah, a boy after my own heart,**_ Sephiroth said dryly, and Riku stumbled again, jumping backwards away from the battle to cast his gaze about. _**Be careful your friends don't begin coming to you for -**_ he broke off into a cough - _**everything, though. You'll soon be sick of your intelligence.**_

 _Where are you?_ Riku asked, unable to see any sign of Cloud's - former? - rival anywhere on the plateau. His eyes slid across something dark somewhere behind the two spiky-haired blondes, then snapped back to it, narrowing as he scrutinized it. _What's that?_

Sephiroth sounded as though he were grimacing when he responded, _**That would be a piece of my wing. ...Well. One of them. The Heartless jumped me while I was covering Cloud.**_

Riku huffed, quickly dragging one hand through his hair. _Alright, that answers one question, but not the other,_ he said, bright eyes darting around as he studied the flow of the battle. _Where are you?_ Given the severity of the situation, he was pointedly ignoring the fact that Sephiroth appeared to have wings. It wasn't that surprising, anyways; Cloud had one as well. Not to mention, he and Sora were friends with talking animals - people with wings really weren't that big a deal.

The sighs he had been answered with on the journey to the Garden made a return, soft exhales echoing within his mind. _**Don't bother,**_ Sephiroth muttered darkly, bitterness in his tone. _**Help Cloud and Sora dispose of these Heartless so they can't get into the town. You can't help me. Not unless you've magically regained your ability to travel through the darkness.**_

Riku opened his eyes wide and blinked a few times. _That's_ _why I can't see hide nor hair of you? You opened a Dark Corridor?_

Again, though he could not see the other man, the Keyblade wielder knew somehow that he too was blinking. _**Is that what they're called?**_ he asked, though he did not sound very interested. _**Rather unoriginal. But yes. I thought to draw the Heartless away from Cloud so he could escape. I thought it had worked, but-**_ He sighed again. _**You know very well that there are always more. By the time I realized that he was once again surrounded, I had been injured, and it seems that my wounds have rendered me incapable of returning from the darkness.**_

Riku let out a sigh as well, long and heavy. _...Do you know where you went in?_ he asked at last, fully expecting the sense of confusion that channeled into his mind from Sephiroth's. He focused on the conversation at hand, keeping an eye on the battle that raged only a few feet away from him, but tuning out the ringing and scraping sounds of metal against metal and claws.

 _ **What does it matter?**_ he said cautiously, as though testing the waters. _**You are no longer capable of-**_

 _First off,_ Riku interrupted, a surge of what felt like anger coursing through him and traveling through their link to magnify his voice, _I don't know how you knew I ever lost it, but it didn't stay gone. The King was wrong - it didn't leave at Xemnas's castle because I didn't belong to the darkness anymore. I had_ just _been rid of Ansem's shadow, and I'd been relying on his power for so long that I couldn't do anything on my own for MONTHS after th-_

 _ **Riku!**_ Sephiroth broke in, sounding pained, and the teen flinched, realizing what had happened. The residual bitterness in him at feeling so helpless after he was finally restored to the way he should have been had indeed made his mental voice louder, and more powerful; in letting that frustration out of its cage, he had harmed Sephiroth in the same way the swordsman had initially caused him pain.

 _I... I'm sorry,_ he apologized sincerely, trying again to reach out comfortingly with his consciousness. This time, Sephiroth either did not bother swatting him away or no longer had the energy to do so, and Riku poked around gently in his mind until he figured out how the sensation of touch had been imitated for him, then gave the man's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. _It's difficult, but I can travel the darkness for brief periods of time. Did you enter the Corridor next to the... piece of your wing?_ he asked, deciding there was no delicate way to put it.

Sephiroth drew in a ragged-sounding breath, and Riku gripped his shoulder again when he felt the shudder that ran through the man's body. _**Yes,**_ he answered at last, sounding to be utterly exhausted, and after taking a breath for courage, the teen leapt back into the midst of the fight he'd never stopped studying, ducking and spinning around and through various attacks until he had reached the pile of dark, bloodied feathers. Once there, he gritted his teeth and focused his energy, forcing the black aperture to appear in front of him. Before he had a chance to second-guess himself, he leapt through into the darkness, ignoring the sound of Sora shouting his name.

"Rik-"

And then the Key Master's voice was gone, swallowed by the void that Riku now stood in, scanning his surroundings for Sephiroth. Sora had mentioned the man before, telling Kairi about the 'epic' battles they'd had. No doubt he'd been embellishing, forgetting that Riku was leaning against the wall, but he was also incredibly vague, never describing anything but the 'psychotically' long sword he wielded with an 'insane' amount of ease. Riku rolled his eyes thinking about it. Cloud's rival must have been good-looking, or Sora would have taken the time to tell their female friend what he looked like - he had painted a very vibrant picture of Xaldin and Vexen.

But it didn't really matter, Riku supposed. After all, aside from Heartless, there shouldn't be much else here. Holding up Soul Eater in a battle-ready position, he began to move through the dark, thankful for the strange glow that had always been in his eyes, making it easier for him to see in any kind of darkness, and giving them their color, a mixture of the sky and sea's blues. He leapt backwards when something crunched under his foot, pointedly making no sound. As he examined what he had stepped on, Riku felt a sense of disbelief growing in him. Heartless burst when they were defeated, releasing the hearts held inside them either to Kingdom Hearts or to another Heartless, depending on how they were defeated. Never, by any weapon, had he known it possible for them to simply die, leaving bodies behind, but he could not deny that the thing on the ground was a piece of a Heartless - the hand of a Neoshadow, if he was not mistaken.

Slightly disconcerted by his find, Riku continued on his way, wondering exactly who he was coming to help. Cloud had always spoken ill of Sephiroth, referring to him as the darkness from within his own heart, a black stain that had to be removed from the world. Yet, he had apparently _rescued_ Cloud from the Heartless, or at the very least been fighting alongside him. If the man was as evil as Cloud said, why would he ever have assisted him, when he could easily have stood back and laughed as the blonde was ripped to shreds? Something wasn't adding up.

The sound of ragged breaths filled Riku's ears rather than his mind, and he snapped his eyes forward, immediately spotting the figure on the ground, unsurprisingly at the epicenter of the dismembered Heartless. Trying not to listen to the squishing, squelching sound as his shoes came down on them, Riku jogged across the raised path of body parts, letting Soul Eater flash back into... wherever it stayed when he wasn't using it. He'd wondered about it before, but quickly decided it didn't matter so long as it came when he summoned it. He reached the injured man in short order - and turned away, an involuntary squeak leaving his mouth as he tried to keep his lunch from following. A very quiet shifting sound reached his ears, and Riku clenched his hands into tight fists, still fighting nausea as he forced himself to turn back around.

Sephiroth's eyes, a light but vibrant glowing green, and beginning to turn glassy, met his own. "Riku," he said softly, his normally rich voice now as weakened as his body. Still, he managed to tilt his head. "You're pale." He raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting for an explanation, and Riku simply shook his head as he knelt down beside him. This man was not normal. "Why?"

"You really haven't looked at this?" Riku asked incredulously, gesturing to Sephiroth's wounds, then ducking his head and covering his mouth with his hands as the stench of blood filled and overpowered his already sensitive nose. After a moment, he recovered, and was able to look back up, feeling his expression become grim.

Sephiroth looked at him with a sort of dark curiosity, never once glancing downward. "No," he answered honestly, letting his eyes slide closed. "I don't believe I want to, either, if it makes _you_ want to vomit. Is it that bad?"

Ignoring that comment for the time being, Riku sighed heavily and somewhat shakily, covering his eyes with his right hand. "It's terrible. I thought I'd seen severe injuries before, but this- I don't know what to do with you. Healing spells don't work in here, and I can't possibly move you like this."

Silence reigned for a moment before Sephiroth reopened his bright orbs and fixed Riku with a hard stare. "Nonetheless, it must be done," he rasped, raising his head up slightly, then, -impossibly - bringing his right arm off the ground and reaching for Riku. "Help me," he ordered, voice wavering, and despite the commanding manner in which it was said, Riku rushed to obey, pulling the man's outstretched around his shoulders and hauling him off the cold ground. A scream of pain escaped the tall man, but Sephiroth seemed to fall silent as soon as he could bite off the sound, falling on Riku at the same moment, making him stagger both from the sudden weight and the long strands of silver that obscured his vision as they landed in front of his face. Letting out a grunt, Riku reached up and pushed them away, swiftly replacing his hand on Sephiroth's body to support him as he tried to hurry to the exit.

Though he had sounded well enough for his condition while he lay in the midst of the carnage, Sephiroth's breathing quickly became labored and ragged, and though Riku hadn't thought it possible, he was forced to hold up more of the man's weight. He forced down the nausea once more when he felt the warm, sticky substance beginning to cover his torso and right arm, reached across his own body to brace Sephiroth's left shoulder so he didn't collapse. Taking a breath to steady himself, Riku went back to his earlier tactic of trying to keep the silver-haired man talking, though this time it was more to comfort himself than to be sure he was still alive - the hot, heavy puffs of air on the back of his neck made him aware of _that_. "How are you not dead?" he blurted out, biting the side of his cheek afterwards. _Great job, Riku._

Sephiroth staggered, gripping tight to Riku's shoulder as another small scream left him; Riku himself was cringing as he felt more blood pour onto him from the gaping slashes. A series of bizarre noises came from Sephiroth then, and it took Riku a moment to realize that the man was laughing. "Cloud would tell you that, of all the things I am capable of, the one thing I could never do right was die," he responded, coughing. "It seems I still haven't learned how."

"Right," the boy muttered under his breath, trying and failing to remove the image of Sephiroth's wounds from his mind's eye as yet more of the crimson liquid dripped from them to land on Riku's skin. He had known already that Cloud and Sephiroth both came from another world - one that had apparently not been restored, as they had not returned - but the proof in the fact of Sephiroth's ability to keep breathing in this state was somewhat disturbing. Glancing up briefly from the mess of bodies for them to trip on, Riku caught sight of light, and his eyes drank it in greedily as he stepped up his pace as much as he dared. "The corridor's just ahead," he said, eagerness evident in his voice. "We're almost there." Sephiroth failed to reply, but his breathing hadn't stopped, so Riku pressed on, wishing he could just pull Sephiroth onto his back and carry him, but, knowing that was out of the question.

"Can you handle it if I run?" he asked, glancing over at his bloodied rescuee. "The sooner we get out of here-"

"Just do it," came a hiss, and Riku didn't bother waiting any longer, latching on tight to the older man's body and lunging for the nearing light. Again, Sephiroth was either too weak to scream or simply didn't bother, though a third option of being in too much pain _to_ scream flitted through Riku's mind as Sephiroth went almost limp in his grasp. Within seconds, they had reentered the light, falling back into Radiant Garden from out of the darkness' clutches, and the comforting sound of the corridor _closing_ rather than opening made the teen want to sag in relief that they were out. Wanting and doing were two entirely different things, however, and he knew that there was no way he would risk dropping his burden; it might not have been true, but Sephiroth looked as though his heart might simply stop beating if he hit the ground.

The sound of pounding feet against the rocky ground met both their ears, and Riku looked up to see Sora running across the plateau, now devoid of Heartless. "Ri-" Sora began, then broke off with a yelp, leaping backwards and crashing into Cloud, who was also coming toward them. "Is that _Sephiroth_?!" the darker blonde practically squealed. "What in the world happened to-?"

Sephiroth chose that moment to begin coughing violently, falling to one knee, and Riku let out a startled sound of his own, dropping down to support him. Sora appeared as instantly as though he'd teleported on the man's other side, quickly taking hold of his upper arm and placing a hand on his back. "Sephiroth." Cloud repeated the name, coming no closer than he was, arms crossed over his chest. "You still can't die right, can you?" Sora's eyes were on him within a second of hearing the word 'die', the righteous fury he always exhibited while fighting his enemies beginning to burn within them.

"Cloud," he nearly growled, and Riku looked over Sephiroth's bowed head at him, concerned. "What do you think you're saying? He's-"

"Laughing," Riku assured Sora when the strange noises started back up, shaking his head both at the frightened expression on his friend's face and the reason for it. Apparently finished trying to hack up a lung, Sephiroth turned his head upward and focused on Cloud, something like a grin forming on his face.

"What did I tell you, Riku?" he croaked, letting out a few more chuckles. Riku shook his head again.

Sora was decidedly not amused, frowning worriedly and jerking back when a drop of blood splashed onto his pants leg. The color drained from his face as he looked at Sephiroth again, apparently (somehow) just seeing enormous gashes for the first time. "Oh, Zeus!" he cursed, eyes wide and panicky. "We gotta heal you right now! Cur-"

"No!" Sephiroth snapped, surprising Sora into silence, though his expression showed very clearly what he thought of the command. "You'll only kill me faster. Take me to..." He paused, apparently out of breath, and leaned somewhat grudgingly to the right, resting his head against Riku's. He struggled not to squirm at the contact. "Aerith," he finished, lifting his head up again and attempting to rise to his feet. Shaking off the faintly uncomfortable feeling from those seconds of odd contact, Riku was quick to assist him, casting Sora a furious glance when he tried to do the same and accidentally plunged his hand into one of the huge tears in Sephiroth's body, causing him to shriek and fall back, practically into Riku's arms. Sora jumped away, shivering and looking alternately at his scarlet hand and Sephiroth, whom Riku had managed to get back to a standing position, though he was once again supporting most of the tall man's weight. "Aerith," Sephiroth said again, his voice raw and his eyes trying to slide closed, leading him to blink repeatedly. "She's not much of a chance, but she's my only one." Drawing in a shuddering breath, he succeeded in turning his head to lock eyes with Riku once more. "Please," he murmured.

Pulling in a deep breath of his own, Riku steeled himself for the what would be a difficult trek back to the town, even if they got him into the Gummi Ship to transport him the majority of the way. Gritting his teeth, he started forward, Sora by his side and Cloud walking ahead of them all, his black coat billowing in the wind that started to blow as though created to impede their progress. Behind his head, Riku heard the quiet rustling of Sephiroth's deep blue feathers, the wing resting gently against his back as its owner made it a point to keep it outstretched for balance, and thanked the stars that the mangled wing was on his left side. They'd never have made it out of the Dark Corridor if it weren't.

What should have been a fairly quick trek back to the Fissure took more time than Riku had wanted to measure, though he couldn't stop himself doing so when he realized that Sephiroth's trembling and general frailty seemed to increase at five minute intervals. After twenty had passed, he was more than relieved to see that they were nearly there, but could no longer hold back the question that had been plaguing him, and, he knew, Sora as well.

"Cloud," he called out to the blonde after giving Sephiroth a tap on the shoulder so as not to startle him. The man looked back at him over his shoulder, silently asking what he wanted. Sora was looking over at him as well, question in the very way he walked. "What happened here?" The Keyblade Master's gaze shifted - no, more like snapped - to Cloud immediately, eyes narrowed slightly. Death disturbed the younger islander, and to hear a man he respected speak so dispassionately of Sephiroth's near-death state had not been easy on him.

Cloud didn't react to the question, and it was clear that he had been expecting it. "Those Heartless appeared while I was here in the Great Maw, and chased me to the Dark Depths. As you know it's a dead end, so I had to make a stand there."

Riku narrowed his eyes a bit as well as he asked the next question. "And did Sephiroth save you, or even just help you?"

They had passed from the Maw and into the narrow space between the towering walls of crystal before Cloud spoke up. "Yes," he said simply, and Riku nodded silently while Sora glowered, stomping past them all to the swirling, glowing portal of light of the ground that would enable them to, for lack of a better term, beam back up to the Gummi Ship, which had automatically closed itself up and risen to hover in the sky, waiting. He disappeared in a white flash and a multitude of sparkles, as though someone had just poured a tub of glitter over his head. Cloud was only a step behind, vanishing in the same manner, and leaving Riku to roll his eyes as he tugged Sephiroth along. _Thanks for the help,_ he groused mentally, and was only marginally surprised when another chuckle came from his left.

"Are you still listening in?" he demanded, though there was no force behind it. _**Yes. Of course,**_ was the amused answer, and Riku rolled his eyes again, returning to narrowing them as they neared the greenish-yellow portal. "Ever been through one of these before?" he asked warily, turning his head to look into dulling green eyes. _**No,**_ Sephiroth replied, apparently having become too exhausted to speak aloud, or perhaps he was simply saving his remaining strength. Riku sighed lightly. "Well, it's a whole lot different from a Dark Corridor, and it might... hurt a bit, since you're used to the darkness."

Shoving both of Riku's theories out the window, Sephiroth scoffed and said derisively, "And you think 'a bit' more pain will matter?" The sixteen year-old opened his mouth to gripe about his companion's attitude, but was interrupted. "Just do it," he said for the second time, and Riku stepped forward without a word, pulling the tall warrior closer against him as they were transported to the humming vessel. Once aboard, Riku relaxed his grip, seeing the thin line Sephiroth's lips had formed, no doubt to keep from releasing any more screams.

"-y? How could you-?" came Sora's voice, and the new arrivals both turned in its direction - though on Sephiroth's part, turning consisted of letting his head fall against Riku's shoulder and blinking at the arguing blondes that came into view when the silver-haired teen moved.

"You're better than I am, Sora," Cloud said bluntly, cutting him off. The two spiky-haired swordsmen - if the Keyblade could be called a sword - were standing almost face-to-face as Sora's limbs trembled, showing how upset he was. "Even after everything he's done, if you knew the details, you'd still be able to forgive him. I can't. And I'm not going to help him." Sora simply stared, disbelieving, as Cloud turned his back, looking out the windshield of the ship. "But..." He sighed. "I won't fight him again unless he starts it. He actually did... save me back there. I've rarely seen him fight so hard." Another sigh. "And he... drew them away when they were too much for me to handle anymore. He's half-dead so I wouldn't be all dead."

Both blondes flew a few feet into the air and whirled around when the familiar voice, albeit raspy now, filled the room. "As touching as this is," Sephiroth panted, mustering up some reserves of energy to glare at Cloud, "I'd appreciate being taken to Aerith more than I do hearing you give up on hunting me down."

Sora jumped as Cloud glared back, and rushed for the controls, making the ship lurch into motion. Cloud squawked indignantly as he struggled to regain his balance. Riku echoed the sound as he nearly crashed into the wall behind him, Sephiroth's considerable weight having all landed on him in the upset, and he flinched when their torsos slammed together, a breathless gasp leaving the injured man. True to his word, Cloud looked on, but did nothing to help as Riku struggled to get Sephiroth off of him without causing him too much more pain. The entire front of Riku's body was now as red as his left side, and he tried not to think about how long the scent of Sephiroth's blood would take to cease haunting him. "Sora," he exclaimed, making his friend's head snap up, deep blue eyes meeting his own glowing aqua. "The point is to save him, not kill him before we can get him to Aerith!"

Sora flinched and quickly turned back to his task, piloting the ship far more smoothly than he had been. "Sorry," he mumbled, just loud enough for Riku's ears to pick it up. "I panicked when I saw him again."

 _I suppose I can't blame him for that,_ Riku thought grimly, taking a moment to look Cloud's unlikely rescuer over now that they were in the light. The gaping slashes in Sephiroth's upper body were continuing to ooze blood, staining even his dark coat and pants crimson, and both articles of clothing were looking reminiscent of rags. As he tried to maneuver the man back into their previous position so he could help him to Aerith when they arrived, he saw a flash of white within all the red, blanching and hoping he could keep from vomiting when he realized that it was one of Sephiroth's ribs. The dark blue wings sprouting from his right shoulder and hip seemed to be fine, only bloodstained, but his single left wing no longer swept the floor with its feathers. Riku shuddered and looked away from the mangled appendage, forcing the image of the pile of quills and bloody flesh on the cliff out of his head. "How did you get this way?" he whispered, pulling Sephiroth's right arm around his shoulders again.

"The disadvantage of a seven-foot sword," Sephiroth said quietly, gripping the proffered shoulder tightly to steady himself as Sora turned the ship, "is that once something gets inside your guard and you've no more energy to cast a spell, there's really nothing you can do for it." He grimaced. "Except let it rip you apart and try not to die before you can get far enough away to kill it."

"Landing," Sora called then, rapidly pressing buttons and pulling levers to achieve a smooth descent. Riku caught his eyes and nodded thankfully once they were grounded, and Sora gave him a tiny smile in return. "I'll run ahead and tell Aerith what's going on," he announced, already at the gangplank waiting for it to open wide enough to let him out. "Cloud..." He took a breath and met the older blonde's gaze fearlessly. "Help Riku. Please. You're right. I _don't_ care what he did. Sephiroth doesn't deserve to die like this."

 _ **Thank him for the vote of confidence later,**_ Sephiroth thought at Riku, struggling to put something like a smile on his face - which, Riku noted belatedly, was also splattered with blood, and the lengthy curtain of silver hanging down from his head had turned pink in spots.

 _Tell him yourself,_ Riku retorted as he partially picked him up and started for the exit. Cloud's clunky footsteps started up behind them, and Sephiroth exhaled heavily.

 _ **If Aerith's healing doesn't kill me, I might.**_

 _Why would it kill you to be healed?_ Riku asked, cautiously picking his way down the ramp.  Why in the name of all that was sensible were these gummi blocks slippery? It defied all logic, and one misstep would likely spell the end of Sephiroth. Cloud stomping around back there and making the ramp shake was not making this any easier. _That makes about as much sense as these slick gummi blocks._

Sephiroth laughed again at his grumbling, but sobered quickly. _**It's complicated,**_ he said softly.

 _We've got plenty of time,_ Riku pointed out as they stepped onto solid ground. _At this pace, it'll take us forever to get to Aerith._

 _ **If I survive, I'll tell you. If I don't, it won't matter anyway.**_

Riku scowled. _Fine,_ he groused, _I'll put that on the list._

 _ **List?**_ Sephiroth repeated, confusion in his voice. _**What list?**_

 _Of things you're going to tell me once you're healed. Or did you forget you promised to tell me how we're having this conversation?_ His scowl became a somewhat worried frown when he saw Sephiroth flinch, as it didn't appear to be due to his injuries.

 _ **...Yes,**_ he replied after a moment. He missed a step, and Riku hurried to catch him before he went down. _**I did forget I said that,**_ he continued as they straightened up. A sigh followed his words. _**It seems I was more desperate for your help than I thought.**_ Another sigh. _**...Don't drop me, Riku,**_ he said then, and something came through their strange link that might have been sadness.

 _I'm not going to drop you,_ Riku answered, forehead creasing further. _We're almost to the edge of town. We'll be to Aerith's soon now._ Sephiroth sighed yet again, and Riku got the distinct feeling that he hadn't been talking about letting him hit the cobblestones.

They walked on slowly through the rows of houses. Riku was quickly coming to loathe the uneven rocks that made the street, as they seemed to have made it their mission in life to trip people with silver and/or white hair; Merlin was eternally stumbling over them, and for the first time Riku considered that the old wizard was right about them being enchanted to make him fall. _Certainly sounds like something Maleficent would have done if she knew he was trying to cast spells against her,_ he thought to himself. _Old hag loved to make people miserable._

"Riku, Cloud!"

He glanced up as Sora appeared before him, speeding towards the three of them on his skateboard. He had one hand outstretched toward the sky; clasped within it was another, more slender hand, and attached to it was Aerith, sparkling with previously-bottled pixie dust, her emerald eyes wide and showing panic as she flew through the air. Riku couldn't help a snort. If he'd never flown before and was being pulled by Sora the Skateboard Master like that, he'd be screaming. Probably profanities, but screaming nonetheless. Personally, he thought Aerith was doing quite well, an opinion that Cloud didn't appear to share from the look on his face when Riku glanced back at him.

Sora hopped off the board, kicking it up to hold it in his right hand and pulling Aerith down to his side with the other. The brunette finally released a squeak, and her legs were wobbling as she pulled her hand out of Sora's and brushed off her skirt. All traces of weakness left her when she turned to smile at Cloud and caught sight of Sephiroth first, horror showing on her face, and she raced toward them, faster than Sora could hope to skate. "Sephiroth?!" she exclaimed as she skidded to a halt and swept her eyes over him. "What happened?" she demanded forcefully, glaring at all of them.

"Cloud was fighting a bunch of Heartless and Sephiroth saved him!" Sora supplied as he too jogged over, stopping on Sephiroth's left. "There were too many, though, and- well," he said awkwardly, gesturing toward the swordsman. "You see it."

Aerith shook her head and reached out to touch Sephiroth's bloodied face, cupping his cheek as she tilted his head to look him in the eye. "Oh, Sephiroth," she said sadly. "You really don't know how to die, do you?" She pushed Sora away when he gasped and stuck his face in front of hers, effectively ignoring him. Riku met his friend's eyes and shook his head, then tilted it towards Sephiroth, hoping Sora would understand the message - 'he's more important right now.' Sora was decidedly upset, but gave his own quick nod in reply.

Sephiroth, meanwhile, was attempting a cheeky grin. "Can't seem to learn," he replied, and Aerith stepped closer to pull him into a very strange hug, as there wasn't much of him she could safely touch. "Maybe one day I'll figure it out, though."

She sighed. "Well, come on, then," she said, her voice gaining strength as she made to turn back toward her house. She paused when Sephiroth's caught her elbow, and looked back at him questioningly.

"It's nice to see you when you're not hanging off my sword," he said with a small smile, which really only amounted to the slightest upturn of his lips.

Aerith squeezed his forearm gently, a sweet smile on her own visage. "It's nice to see you when you're not preparing to drive it through me. You're much more pleasant to be around when you're not killing me."

"I imagine I am," Sephiroth chuckled, then broke off into a pained hiss, gripping Riku's right shoulder so tightly that it creaked under the pressure; Riku gritted his teeth, grunting. Sora flinched, waving his hands around at the sound and making disgusted faces. Aerith immediately laid her own hand against it, green light enveloping the pale appendage as she murmured, "Cure." The familiar cool sensation of a healing spell flowed through Riku's arm, and he relaxed his tensed muscles, letting out a breath of relief.

 _That hurt,_ he said accusingly to Sephiroth, who didn't respond, then let out his own sigh. "We need to hurry, Aerith," he said, though it should have been an unnecessary statement, and the brunette nodded.

"Yes, we do," she agreed, her eyes flicking over to Cloud. "The extra bed is still where you put it last time I had to patch up Yuffie; I'll need your help to get it out and set up..."

The blonde nodded and strode past them in the direction of Aerith's home. She smiled thankfully as he started to move and scurried on ahead of him. "Hurry up, please, boys!" she called back. "This won't take long, and Sephiroth is in more danger than he may be letting on!"

Sora spluttered at that as she vanished around the corner in a blur of pink. "Like this isn't dangerous enough?!" he shouted after her, pointing to the places on Sephiroth's torso where skin and muscle were disturbingly absent, flashes of white bone showing through when he moved. He sighed aggravatedly as he - carefully this time - moved closer to his old opponent and took hold of him. "Lean on me and give Riku a break, okay?" he said in the seldom-used gentle tone he usually saved for Pooh Bear, and Riku was surprised when Sephiroth obeyed - though he was thoroughly unsurprised when Sora staggered under the weight, and had already tightened his own grip on Sephiroth in anticipation, waiting until the Keybearer regained his balance to loosen up. Sora let out a heavy breath, then nodded, apparently for his own benefit. "Right, let's get you over to Aerith's place," he said aloud, and the three set off in silence save the sound of their shoes against the stones and Sephiroth's labored breaths.

 _If I ask a question, will you actually answer it this time?_ Riku asked after a moment, daring to bring his eyes up from the ground and glance at Sephiroth.

 _ **It depends,**_ Sephiroth replied, his mental voice sounding far too relaxed for the state he was in - though he was trying to hide it, Riku could still see Sora shivering as he too became covered with a considerable amount of their companion's blood, and wondered not for the first time how Sephiroth could still be alive, let _alone_ walking and talking as he was. _**Ask, and I'll answer if I can.**_

Riku's frown returned with a vengeance. _Well, now I've got another one. Why is it that earlier I could hear you breathing and tell when you were making faces, and now we're just talking?_

 _ **I believe I mentioned that it has been a very long time since I've done this,**_ came a rather dry-sounding response, and Riku nodded his head, forehead still creased. _**It's taken this time to remember how to control what goes through to you and what stays mine. You weren't supposed to be able to know the things you did, only to hear my voice and feel my touch if I wanted you to. It shouldn't happen anymore.**_

 _And emotions?_ Riku asked quietly. _Am I meant to feel those from you?_

Sephiroth tensed, which panicked Sora slightly, but the silver-haired man somehow managed to shake his head, telling the youngest member of the party that it was nothing to concern himself about. _**What was your first question?**_ he asked, pointedly ignoring Riku's previous comment and all attempts the younger silverette made at saying it again. Finally, Riku huffed and let it drop, rolling his eyes.

 _Fine. I want to know why Cloud and Aerith made those comments about you dying. Will you tell me that?_

 _ **Yes,**_ Sephiroth answered smoothly, making Riku's eyebrows shoot up at his sudden compliance. _**But I suggest you ask that aloud. Sora, as you may have noticed, was very bothered by it, and I would prefer not to start on an explanation 'out of the blue'. Your friend already thinks me slightly insane, and I'd rather not make that opinion worse.**_

 _Makes sense,_ Riku thought. "Sephiroth," he said, and Sora's deep blue eyes flicked over to him curiously. He hardly noticed, busy trying to rid himself of the feeling that speaking with his mouth instead of his mind was unnatural. "Why did Cloud say that about you? And Aerith? About you dying." The words almost didn't want to come, as though his tongue and lips didn't want to form them. He shot Sephiroth a look, trying to let his own emotions of worry and an undeniable bit of fear flow through their connection.

 _ **You'll be fine, Riku,**_ Sephiroth said assuringly, even as he opened his mouth and began to answer the audible question. "Very simply put, it is because I have returned several times from death to continue harassing Cloud and his companions - and I do not mean from the brink, as I am now." _**It's like learning another language. When you aren't used to it, it's difficult to switch back and forth. The transition will come to feel natural in time.**_

Riku resisted the urge to put a hand to his temples, but did close his eyes as his head began to spin - Sephiroth's two voices, the rich baritone in his mind and the diminished, raspy version coming from his mouth were overlapping painfully as his mind tried to focus and take it all in at once. Thankfully, he said no more through the link, continuing to speak normally for Sora's benefit. "Cloud killed me twice-"

"Twice?!" Sora burst out, looking Sephiroth up and down as though searching for evidence.

"-unless," Sephiroth went on as though nothing had been said, save a slight upturn of his lips to indicate his amusement, "you count our third dramatic battle, during which... Hm. Nevermind. That's a bit complicated to explain. Suffice it to say that I was not truly there, though if looked at from the right perspective, one _could_ say that he has killed me three times."

"Why?" Sora asked, appearing completely flabbergasted. "I know you two were supposed to be enemies, but... he actually... killed you?" The blonde's eyebrows were knitted together, and a sadness was in his eyes. "I thought... I thought he was a hero..."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, looking truly puzzled. "And did you not kill the members of Organization XIII?" he asked. Riku almost wanted to summon Soul Eater and put another hole in him when he saw Sora's expression become haunted.

 _Do you have any idea how long it's taken to get him over that?!_ he raged, not even caring when Sephiroth stumbled from his volume, barely suppressing a cry. _Why would you say that to him?! You-_

"Sephiroth?!" Sora exclaimed frantically as the warrior nearly fell on top of him, and quickly scrambled in front of him to push on his shoulders until he was standing up straight again. "Hang on," the Keybearer begged, eyes sparkling. "We're almost there! Don't you die on me, Sephiroth! Hold on just a little more!" A groan was the only answer he recieved, and Sora hurried back to his previous position, taking hold of Sephiroth again. "Come on, Riku," he practically commanded, shooting him a quick look. Riku almost stumbled himself from the combined factors of Sora's tone, increased pace, and his facial expression - the pained look he always got when someone mentioned his former nemesi (and Kairi wasn't around) had vanished completely, replaced by a burning determination. Riku's fury similarly ebbed, a feeling of discomfort beginning to grow in its wake.

For a moment, he had regressed to the way he was when the darkness first swallowed the islands and he worked for Maleficent. All she'd had to do was tell him that Kairi was in danger, and he had leapt into battle with Sora, caring nothing for how he might hurt; the red-haired girl was all that mattered. Now here he was again, fully aware that he injured Sephiroth and not feeling any remorse, concerned only for Sora's well-being. Even now, he felt no shame for what he had done - and that above all else was what disturbed him, a weight settling on his chest as they continued down the road.

Scarcely two minutes had gone by before the familiar stone cottage came into view, the rainbow of flowers that surrounded it waving gently, cheerfully, in the same breeze that ruffled Sephiroth's feathers and blew the almost overpowering smell of his blood into Riku and Sora's faces. The flower girl herself stood in the open doorway, smiling despite the sorrowful aura that emanated from her. Beside her was Cloud, watching them impassively as they approached, muscled arms crossed over his chest. Sora let out a small, wordless cheer when Aerith raised her hand in greeting and waved them forward, nudging Cloud aside to give them a clear path inside. A frown came to every face as, in response, Sephiroth locked up, digging his heels into the ground and refusing to move any further.

"What's the matter?" Aerith called, her eyebrows knitting together. "Come on!"

"No!" Sephiroth shouted back, shaking his head rapidly. Sora made a sound that was half indignant and half resigned when strands of flying silver began to smack him in the face, no doubt stinging his skin. Riku was in a similar predicament, though his reaction was merely to huff. "No," he repeated more calmly, and did not budge.

"Really, what's the matter?" Aerith asked again, coming forward. Though his face didn't change, Cloud was on her heels, looking more tense than he had before.

Sephiroth's eyes slid past her to the room inside the little house, where a bed could be seen, white sheets spred across it and a fluffy comforter of the same color folded down at the bottom. "I assume you want the truth," he murmured. Aerith nodded, and he took a breath. "The thought of trying to get on that bed while I am conscious frightens me," Sephiroth announced bluntly. Riku saw Sora's jaw drop, Aerith blink, and Cloud smirk. He wasn't quite sure what to call what his own face was doing.

"Seriously?!" Sora asked incredulously, something like a scowl on his face now. " _THAT'S_ why you got all stiff?" Sephiroth cut his eyes at the blonde, but was interrupted before he managed a single syllable by a snicker from Cloud, upon which the tall man shut his mouth and turned his eyes skyward. _**Just get it over with,**_ he grumbled, and Riku was certain that he hadn't meant it to be overheard.

"The mighty Sephiroth is afraid?" Cloud said mockingly, advancing past the halted Aerith to stand in front of his rival, the grin on his face evidence that, at the moment, he didn't even care that he had to look up at the silver-haired man. "And here I thought I'd never see the day. I'm marking this on my calendar."

Sephiroth released a sigh. "Laugh if you will," he said, sounding nonchalant. Cloud's smirk receded somewhat. "The facts will not change because of it, and the facts are that I am grievously injured and very nearly terrified of how much more pain will come from the effort of attempting to lie down on that mattress, not to mention how greatly the healing itself will hurt."

Cloud let out a very small sigh and shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest again. "So what do you want?" he asked, a challenge in his voice. "You said bring you to Aerith. Against my better judgement, here you are. Now you won't take the healing you asked for?" He clenched a fist. "How about I knock you unconscious and throw you on there?"

Aerith huffed, coming up next to him with one hand on her hip, the other covering his fisted hand. "Honestly," she groused, rolling her eyes. "Can't you two even pretend to get along for a couple of minutes? I swear-"

"Actually," Sephiroth cut in; Aerith fell silent, raising a questioning eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like a terrible plan."

"Are you completely nuts?!" Riku finally burst out, releasing his hold on the man and stepping out in front of him to meet his eyes. Sora yelped as Sephiroth swayed from having lost the extra support, but he seemed to recover quickly enough, never breaking his light green gaze from Riku's narrowed aqua. "Nothing you have said or done today has made any semblance of sense," the sixteen year-old went on, understanding Cloud's frustration when the swordsman did not respond in any way, his expression carved from impassive stone. "You're Cloud's worst enemy, but you saved his life. You apparently killed Aerith back on your world, though I don't have any idea how that worked, and now the two of you are exchanging niceties like old friends. If what I've heard about you is true, you could stare down every villain Sora has ever gone up against and not even bat an eye, yet you're afraid of going in Aerith's house so she can heal you because it's going to hurt, and mind you this is _after_ you said that more pain can't matter given how much you're already dealing with!" Riku came to a stop; he realized he had been pacing, and turned to face Sephiroth once more, quickly raking a sticky hand through his already bloodied hair. "So I would really just like to know - are you crazy? Are you insane, really?"

In the seconds of silence that followed his tirade, Riku took a quick glance around at the others, pointedly not blushing when he saw that they were all staring at him with varying degrees of incredulity; Sora was even shaking his head as he looked at him with wide eyes. Then the sound of Sephiroth's weak, raspy chuckles brought all eyes back to him. "Not at the moment," he replied when his laughter had died away, his expression taking on a somber look. "I've been largely sane since we arrived in this world."

"So, you _were_ crazy before, though?" Sora asked, scrunching up his face.

"Completely," Sephiroth answered seriously. "I had only brief moments of clarity, and when I awakened from that haze, the things I saw disturbed me so much that I fled back into the safety of my insanity, where my conscience could no longer tell me that I deserved to burn in Ifrit's fire for the rest of eternity as penance for my actions." Before anyone could say a word, though several mouths were open, Sephiroth was speaking again, his tone much lighter. "As I was saying, the best way to proceed is for me to be unconscious - though I think I have a simpler solution than Cloud," he said as the blonde cracked his knuckles in apparent anticipation.

"What is it, then?" Aerith asked, twirling her braid around her left arm, drumming the fingers of her right hand against her hip bone.

Sephiroth grimaced. "If Cloud will consent to catch me," he began, shooting the other man a glance, "I will look down. I have no doubt that I will pass out when I see myself. Riku and Sora look as though they've been in a very literal bloodbath, and I know that none of it is theirs."

Riku had to agree with the assessment. While he couldn't see himself, he could see Sora very well; all the lighter colors of his clothing had been dyed red with Sephiroth's blood, to the point that they probably wouldn't come clean without help from the fairies who made them. He glanced down at himself then, unable to help it, and quickly forced his eyes upward - he was _saturated_ with crimson, all over his clothes and his skin where the fabric didn't cover him.

Aerith was holding her left hand to her mouth now, braid still wrapped around it. "Oh, Gaia," she said with a wince. "You haven't seen yourself?" Sephiroth responded with a shake of his head, and Aerith drew in a calming breath. "That'll do it, then," she said, shaking her head as well, and wincing again when turning it to the right pulled her hair. "Cloud?" she asked, and though he didn't look pleased, Cloud nodded and strode across the cobblestones to stand behind Sephiroth.

"You'll want to let go of him now, Sora," he said, placing one of his hands between Sephiroth's shoulder blades to steady him as the Keyblade wielder stepped away uncertainly, backing up until he stood next to Riku. "And Aerith, maybe you should go get your mirror. It'll be easier," he went on, raising himself up on his toes to meet her gaze over the shoulder that didn't have a big blue wing blocking the way. Despite the situation, the sight was met with snickers from Sora and a short burst of laughter from Aerith. Cloud scowled, and the brunette let out another stream of giggles as she ran back into her home, emerging only seconds later with a mirror as tall as she was.

Sephiroth closed his eyes as she arranged herself and the glass in front of him, clearly delaying the inevitable. "What if you don't fall backwards when you faint?" Riku asked just as Aerith opened her mouth to give the all-clear. Frowns were on faces again as the possibility was considered.

"You and Sora stand in front of him," Aerith suggested, taking one hand off the mirror's frame to gesture towards the injured swordsman. "Form a triangle with Cloud, and that way he'll be able to see the mirror and the two of you can lean whichever way you need to to catch him." Riku nodded, seeing the sense in the premise, while Sora was already jogging over to get into position, hands out and ready. "Sound alright to you, Sephiroth?" Aerith called over, and was rewarded with a nod. Riku strode to stand in front of Sephiroth's right side, mimicking Sora's posture, and glanced back at the pink-clad woman. "Okay, Sephiroth," she announced, her voice strong but grim. "Go ahead and look."

The light green glow became visible once more, slitted pupils slowly raising to the mirror's surface and focusing on the image reflected there, then dilating to the point that their peculiar shape was no longer discernible. Riku hadn't thought it possible for Sephiroth's face to be any paler than it already was, but it could apparently happen, as some unknown color reserves drained from his skin, leaving him an almost papery white - or perhaps bone-white, to match the color of his ribs, which showed when he shifted to take in the full extent of his injuries. That, apparently, was too much for him to handle, for his widened eyes immediately rolled back, eyelids sliding shut over them as his body first stiffened and then fell limply into Cloud's waiting arms, red-tinted silver falling to cover part of his ashen face as his head lolled to the side.

Leaving the mirror propped against the side of her house, Aerith approached, her sadness now showing on her face. Gently, she tucked the wayward strands of hair behind Sephiroth's ear, letting her fingertips rest on his cheek for a few seconds. Then she sighed and brought her hand back to her side, this time brushing it against Sephiroth's own hand. She mumbled something that Riku couldn't understand before turning her back to the group, her boots making muffled thuds against the ground as she walked back to her door. "Get him inside, Cloud," her voice wafted back to them. "It's going to be a rough night for all three of us." Cloud said nothing, merely readjusted his hold on Sephiroth and followed Aerith into the cottage, Sora and Riku trailing behind.

Sephiroth was soon deposited on the mattress, the white sheets instantly becoming red. Sora's face was pinched as he quietly asked Aerith what he could do to help, his eyes continually flicking back to the figure on the bed. Riku offered no assistance, knowing that Aerith would only shoo Sora away, and stepped softly towards Sephiroth, looking him over openly rather than with the glances the blue-eyed boy was throwing. Sora had spoken before of how intimidating a presence he had, and even when Riku had found him, wounded though he was, the man had still been imposing. The discomfort he had felt after the comment about the Organization returned, with what was perhaps guilt beginning to form in his heart. While he had been awake, Riku felt no remorse whatsoever, but now... Sephiroth looked small, and he was becoming more and more ashamed with himself for intentionally causing him more pain.

Aerith's rejection met his ears along with the sound of Sora's footsteps heading for the door. "Riku?" he asked as he reached it, one hand on the doorframe. "Are you... coming outside with me?"

"Yes," Aerith answered for him, suddenly there pushing him away from Sephiroth's bedside. "Both of you go clean up. Come back later."

"But-!" Riku protested, pulling out of her grasp and planting his feet. The second she had taken hold of him, Riku's guilt had exploded, his insides burning with shame. He couldn't just leave, not now; there had to be something he could do to apologize for his actions-

"Riku," Aerith said sadly, hands on his shoulders. There were tears glistening in her eyes, unshed, but more than noticeable. "Please," she begged. "It's best that you go. You don't want to see this."

"But..." he tried again, scrambling to dredge up a reason not to leave. "We have unfinished business," he said, then admitted defeat and allowed himself to sound childish, "He promised. He promised that he would answer my questions. Important questions."

Cloud, who had been a statue in the corner since Sephiroth was out of his arms, stepped forward, nudging Aerith back into the room as he fixed Riku with an unwavering gaze. "Go with Sora," he commanded, going back to his nearly trademarked pose with his arms across his chest. "Do as Aerith says."

"He promised-"

"You don't want to know," Cloud interrupted, almost warningly.

Riku stood firm. "Yeah, actually, I do. ...But... what if-" he started, then found he couldn't go on.

"Sephiroth won't be stopped by something like this," Aerith said, reappearing at Cloud's shoulder. "I promise you that." She attempted a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Don't worry, Riku. I'll send Cloud for you when he's well enough to talk."

There was no time to say anything else, as Cloud bodily removed both Riku and Sora from the cottage, closing the door firmly in their faces and locking it. Riku felt himself frowning as a sigh left his mouth.

"...Dude, you look gross," Sora announced a moment later, poking at his sticky red shoulder. "Let's clean up, like Aerith said. Cid's place is always open."

Riku sighed again, turning to look at the blonde, a half-smile forming on his face when he saw Sora plucking at his own clothes, eyes scrunched and tongue stuck out. "You go ahead," he said, taking a deep breath of the sweet air the flowers provided. "Cid'll skin us if we get blood all over his furniture, and that's bound to happen if one of us is waiting on the shower."

Sora chuckled. "Good point," he conceded. "I'll come get you when it's your turn." He started to turn away, then paused, placing a hand on Riku's shoulder. "She's right, y'know. Sephiroth's the strongest guy I've ever met. He'll be fine."

Riku nodded, offering a pale smile again. "Yeah..."

"He was the voice in your head," Sora said, no question in his tone, and Riku nodded. "I guess that's what he promised to tell you about, then?"

"And a couple other things," Riku shrugged, his forehead creasing as he looked back at Aerith's door. "And I think Cloud knows the answers."

"Seems to," Sora agreed, pulling his hand back and putting his arms behind his head. "I wouldn't worry too much about what he said, though. Cloud thinks everything about Sephiroth is bad, but I think today's proved that it's not. He'll pull through, and then we'll find out what the deal is, right?"

"Right," Riku replied, his smile feeling a bit more real this time.

* * *

Wow. That is really long, isn't it? Sorry DX Anyway, let me know what you think in a review - aside from the massive length of this first chapter and the AU-ness, is there anything inherently _wrong_ that you can think of? Basically, what do you like and what do you not? Should I continue? To be honest, I will whether it gets a positive response or not because I've already written two, almost three more chapters because this thing eats my brain and I can't help it DX Enough of my rambling though. Thank you guys so much for reading if you made it this far; I love you all!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey there! If anyone's still here for the second chapter, thanks for taking the time to read! Not much else to say, I suppose, so let's just jump right in, shall we?

* * *

The wind was stronger up above the streets, tousling Riku's blood-stiffened hair with difficulty, but doing so nonetheless as he sat, otherwise motionless, atop the roof of Merlin's home, his gaze on the light blue sky. His perch overlooked Aerith's cottage, thus why he had chosen it, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening inside - until Cloud had come to the window, thrown him a dark and threatening glare, and promptly snapped the curtains shut, obscuring what pathetic view Riku had had. That was over an hour before, and the sixteen year-old was slowly but surely going mad with the waiting. Sora had thus far failed to reappear, which made Riku think that he had been right about the blood's refusal to part with their skin, hair, and clothing. The thought made his already low spirits sink further, and he shifted position, letting one leg slide down to lay against the slanted roof and drawing the other knee up closer to rest his arm on.

 _I wonder..._

Riku let his eyes slide closed and slowly began to reach out with his mind, searching for Sephiroth's presence. He hadn't noticed until after taking his place on the rooftop, but the lack of other people around him had alerted him to the loss of the connection between them. He hadn't tried to do anything about it, at first simply assuming that as the reason Sephiroth had been so adamant that he remain conscious until their arrival at the cottage, but with nothing else to distract himself with...

He was both concerned and relieved to find that the place within his mind where he had heard Sephiroth's voice and felt his emotions was not gone, but was somehow... condensed, a tightly closed door where before had been a wide, open passage. Gently, he prodded at it, letting his physical face frown when nothing appeared to be happening. Riku applied more mental force, and it was for all the world like trying to pry open a heavy stone door with only his thoughts. A wave of satisfaction rolled over him when the door opened a crack, the already familiar combination of feelings that were Sephiroth's aura spilling through - the cool calmness and sense of control that he exuded both inside and out, along with the small but steady warmth of compassion that Riku imagined only he was aware of. There were no real emotions to feel as he pried the doorway further open, likely because Sephiroth was unconscious, and he slipped through the opening much as he now knew Sephiroth had done when the ordeal began, becoming the dominant presence in both their minds.

It was at that instant that Riku was forced to grip the shingles of Merlin's roof lest he plummet off the top of it, gritting his teeth at the sudden start of what he could only call an attack from Sephiroth, as the swordsman tried to forcefully remove Riku from his mind. Underneath the pain of being shoved back towards the doorway, Riku sensed two intense feelings, no doubt the things that were driving the attack: panic and fear. Ignoring the question of what _Sephiroth_ could be afraid of, he dug in his heels and pushed back against the force trying to oust him. The resulting spike in Sephiroth's fear was far beyond troubling, and Riku decided that this must have happened to him before. Some hostile presence must have entered his mind in the past - a presence that Riku was now being mistaken for. Sephiroth's strength doubled as his panic rose, and the only thing Riku could think to do as the door connecting them loomed was to shout at him again.

 _Sephiroth, it's me! Stop it! Stop, it's me!_ _Sephiroth!_

And though they still battled for a moment, Riku could feel something else emerging from within the violent emotions. Recognition. Slowly, Sephiroth pulled away, fear fading, and though they of course had no physical forms, Riku imagined that they both stood in the black expanse, shaped as they were in reality. The laws of gravity had no application, however, as proved when Sephiroth closed his eyes and drifted away like a ghost, coat and hair fluttering in some invisible, unfeelable breeze. Oddly, he had but a single wing here, the blackened blue limb protruding from his right shoulder, and the clothing he wore was somehow different, though black remained the dominant color. These observations became insignificant as a feeling of apology began to emanate from Sephiroth's position, clearly directed at Riku.

At once, Riku recalled why he had attempted this, and sent back remorse as he stepped back a few paces, the memory of his intentional infliction of pain replaying behind his eyes.

 _ **I don't blame you, Riku.**_ He jumped as Sephiroth's voice echoed around him, his form having dissipated an instant before. _**It isn't your fault. Don't hold it against yourself.**_

 _But,_ Riku responded before he had even thought of what he might say. _But... what do you mean? Of course it's my fault; I did it!_

 _ **...No.**_ **You** _ **didn't. Nothing that's happened has been because of you. Don't ever think it has.**_

Riku blinked, then squeezed his eyes shut. _What is that even supposed to mean? What are you-?_ But the rest of his question was cut off as a sigh filled the space around him, at the same time pushing him back gently through the door, which closed in front of him and refused to open back regardless of how he pulled at it.

With an exhale of his own, Riku opened his real eyes and returned to awareness of the physical world, still sitting on the roof and holding onto it as though for dear life. With a tiny sigh, he released his grip and flexed his hands, which didn't seem to want to cooperate with the motions after so long clenched. He had no sooner managed to return them to functionality than footsteps began to echo up to him from the street below, and Riku turned his gaze downward to see Sora standing below him, blood-free, wearing Leon's clothes, and one eyebrow quirked up. Then he bent his knees and sprang up into the air, somehow managing to jump again and propel himself higher, upon which he leaned forward and spread his limbs out, gliding over the rooftop and finally dropping down on Riku's right, a huge grin in place.

Sora then proceeded to scootch down so that he was lying on the slanted roof and put his arms behind his head, cushioning it from the hard shingles as he gazed up into the sky, where the wind was blowing the few clouds around at an increased rate in comparison to the norm. The sky itself was lightening from blue to white, the clouds shifting from white to gray, in coordination with the apparent approach of a storm. "So," Sora said, drawing Riku's attention back to him. His grin had vanished, and he now gazed skyward with an almost blank expression, ignoring the way the wind made his hair wave like tall grass in the fields. "Any word yet?"

Riku sighed and hoisted himself up into a sitting position with better posture. "No," he answered simply, holding his breath as the wind doubled back on itself and tried to make him smell the blood again. "And Cloud closed the curtains." Sora said nothing, simply nodding in silence, and no more was said between them for several minutes.

"...You do realize the shower's open now, right?" Sora reminded him then.

"Yeah," Riku sighed, making no move to get up. "I know."

"So go," the younger boy ordered, grabbing onto the roof's somewhat peculiar point to haul his body up into a copy of Riku's straight-backed sitting. "Go on. Really. I swear I'll come get you if anything even _looks_ like it might be happening," he promised. Truth was shining in his eyes, and Riku found after a moment of trying that he couldn't say no. With a groan, he admitted defeat and jumped off the roof, landing easily on the cobblestones below and taking a several steps forward before he was stopped by the sight of pink curtains. The window to Aerith's cottage was right in front of him, close enough that he could touch it without even fully extending his arm, and glass was so easy to break...

 _What am I thinking?_ he asked himself then with a minute shake of his head. _I don't even know this guy save for what Sora's told me and the few hours today!_ Still, he found himself poking again at the closed passage that connected him to Sephiroth, taking comfort in the fact that it was still there. _Why am I so worried about him...?_ The question refused to leave, even as he turned to wave at Sora, who would no doubt be frowning at him from his perch, and began the walk across town to Cid Highwind's perpetually open door.

~.~.~.~

 _Why am I so worried about Sephiroth?_ Riku asked himself yet again, tipping his head back and letting the hot water sluice down his body, steam rising in a thick sheet all around him. Streams of clear liquid turned to red as they traveled over his skin, the power of the water sloughing off the flakes of dried blood. The sensation of the watery warmth around him dredged up a multitude of far-away, blurry memories of himself, Sora and, later, Kairi, sneaking off to the Party Island to play in the water close to the shore, warmed by the sun on hot summer days, and going to the island's center to wash off the salt in the miniature waterfalls, so slow-moving and low-volume that they were as warm as- well, as this shower, almost. Unknowingly, he furrowed his brows as one of those memories began to stand out from the rest, the pleasant pattern interrupted by the recollection of tears and pain.

Sora was being stupid again, he remembered, and he knew he had yelled at the brunette to get down from that ledge, but of course he hadn't listened. Instead, he had called something down to Kairi before jumping off, and Riku recalled with disturbing clarity how he _saw_ the excitement turn to terror on his friend's face, thinking that he needed to run over and save him without realizing that he was already in motion. As Sora neared the ground, Riku remembered splashing through the waterfall's pool to stand underneath him, the sound of Kairi's screams and his own heartbeat rushing in his ears the soundtrack to the scene. Then Sora crashed into him, screeching, and Riku fell down into the water from the force of it, trying to keep Sora from getting hurt - and smashing the back of his head into a submerged rock in the process.

Things got blurry after that, but he could remember feeling the pain, not of the wound itself, but of the water lapping against it, bits of sticks and leaves and sand washing into the gash and making it burn. He remembered Sora joining in the screaming, and, when he couldn't make his body move as they shook him and told him to get up, leading the red-headed girl in the crying. The water had been a beautiful island-y color before he fell. Then he hit that dumb rock, and he could see the red streaking the water and turning it ugly, though it took him longer than it should to realize that there was a _lot_ of red, and that the only place it could be coming from was-

And then he screamed and cried as he understood what had happened, that he was going to bleed to death in a stupid tiny pool because of a stupid tiny rock and his stupid tiny friend being _stupid_ and there was so much blood, he was really going to die-!

And then, all of the sudden, he wasn't afraid anymore, because there was someone touching the top of his head and whispering that he would be okay, and helping him get up out of the water to stumble towards Sora and Kairi, who wasted no time in laying Sora's discarded shirt over his head and leading him back to the boat they'd slipped over on while their moms were sleeping through a perfectly good Saturday. Riku thought about crying some more, because his head really did hurt, but the grown-up he couldn't see was still there, promising that he was going to be alright and not to worry about a little cut. He figured he should listen. After all, the only invisible grown-ups he knew of were guardian angels, like Mom had told him about, and if his angel said he was okay, then who was he to argue?

The ride home and the trip to the doctor were all foggy, and he didn't remember much about it except that he got a light shined in his eyes and his mom was crying a lot. The only thing he could really remember clearly was that his guardian angel never left him until it was all over and he was definitely okay again. Every time his mom woke him up that night - something he blamed completely on that crazy-looking doctor who didn't even give candy - the angel was there with him too, holding his hand or petting his hair, and maybe talking to him, quiet words with no real meaning, not intended to be remembered. The last time Riku woke up that night, it wasn't because of Mom, but his angel, who said that he was alright now, and it was time to go to sleep until tomorrow. He didn't have much of a problem obeying. Well, not after he'd told the angel not to leave yet, anyway, and he fell asleep quite contented, with a calm, soothing feeling surrounding him...

... _Just like this morning when Sephiroth touched me on the island,_ Riku mused as he reopened his eyes, coming back to the present. It was a troubling thought. Sephiroth wouldn't have known him when he was that young, which meant that there was someone else out there with similar powers, and _that_ was downright terrifying - more than one Sephiroth? A shiver ran up his spine as he stepped forward into the spray and tried once more to remove the blood from his hair, shampoo filling his entire palm. Of course, there was still a question of how Sephiroth had been able to contact him today when they'd never met... But then again, Sora had asked everyone on all the worlds where he and Kairi were, and even if he'd never asked Sephiroth to his face, the question would have reached him eventually. From there Riku could only guess; knowing that Sephiroth was capable of traveling the Dark Corridors made it likely that he had been spied on by the warrior at some - possibly several - points. Or, the man was acquainted with his so-called 'guardian angel', and had somehow been able to communicate with him from mere description...

Riku scoffed at himself. _Listen to me pretending I know anything about how a psychic connection works,_ he thought detrimentally. _For all I know you just yell really loud and hope someone answers you._ As he leaned his head under the water to let it rinse the thick lather from his hair, he closed his eyes again and reached for Sephiroth's presence. It was still there, the thrum of life clear even though the way was shut. _Whatever it is, I'll get my answers when he wakes up._

Sora, his need for sleep having apparently overridden everything else, was snoring on the beat-up couch when Riku at long last emerged from the bathroom, also clad in some of Leon's extra clothing, which he was entirely disillusioned with. _How does he_ wear _this stuff?_ he groused as he tried in vain to keep the black pants from scrunching up unpleasantly when he moved and fighting to keep the jacket on his shoulders, noticeably more slender than the brunette's. Sora, naturally, had appeared completely unphased earlier, and was much the same now as he mumbled something in his sleep and started flopping his hand around. Having known the boy for as long as he had, Riku could only slightly roll his eyes as he strode across the room to grab a blanket and spread it over the younger islander. Sora's expression immediately smoothed out and his mumbles ceased as he burrowed under the fabric, becoming a breathing, misshapen lump beneath it. With a small smile on his face - _some things never change_ \- the silver-haired teen turned around and headed in the direction of the kitchen, where there was undoubtedly an abundance of food just waiting to be eaten...

He caught a flash of silver and black in his peripheral vision as he crossed the room, and irrationally thought it was Sephiroth, though of course when he turned to look it was only his reflection in a mirror. As he looked himself over, Riku couldn't stop a smirk from forming on his face. _No wonder Leon has ten of this same get-up._ The clothes' shortcomings were far less irritating as he continued on to the kitchen.

~.~.~.~

The winds again toyed with Riku's silver locks as he walked the streets at a leisurely pace, comfortably stuffed. While in truth he and Sora didn't exactly frequent the Garden, Cid's house was never a disappointment when they did visit. Food, a hot shower, a place to crash; Riku hated to think of it as the ideal place to stay, but even with the ever-present, lingering smell of cigarette smoke, the mechanic's home had the tendency to draw people to it. Cid himself was brusque and occasionally harsh, and there was the unchangeable fact of his language, but as the eldest survivor of the Garden's fall to Darkness, he had been forced to care for the others as they grew up - far less like a father, however, than, in Leon's words, 'that irresponsible uncle who had no idea what he was doing but did alright anyway.' Somewhere during those years, Cid admitted to having largely kicked them all out, adamant that they grow up and be useful, but had never been able to lock the door on them, and so they came back at random intervals to do much as Riku and Sora were now: stumbling in at all hours to bathe, stuff their faces, and pass out before disappearing again, occasionally offering up a word of thanks. Despite what he might say, anger never reached Cid's eyes, and Riku had begun to suspect that the Gummi genius wouldn't know what to do with himself if there came a day he walked through his door and didn't see the younger generation helping themselves to whatever he had.

The sun was peeking tentatively out from behind the continuously darkening mass of clouds, shining weak rays down as though trying to get in one last word before the storm took over the sky. Riku frowned lightly, giving a small huff as he turned around to head back towards Cid's. Downpours in Radiant Garden were never pleasant to be caught in, for though they never lasted long, they were always violent and cold, no matter what the season. The only sensible thing to do was find someplace to take refuge, but Riku felt annoyed that he would have to go inside. The cool air before the rain was pleasant. He'd never admit it to Sora, but since they'd traveled outside of their world, he'd come to dislike the heat of the island sun. The colder worlds suited him well, and he wondered for a moment what Cloud and the others' home world had been like.

"WAAH!"

The scream was loud, terrified, and coming from directly above him. Riku sighed and held his arms out in front of him, bracing for the impact as a familiar figure landed, flailing, in his grasp. "Hi, Yuffie," he said tonelessly, mentally asking, _Why me?_ The ninja quickly wriggled out of his hold, standing in front of him with her fists on her narrow hips.

"I don't need your help!" she shouted, waving one of those fists under his nose. "Don't you dare catch me again! I had everything under control!"

"Sorry," Riku replied, again without inflection. Yuffie was alright, of course, under normal circumstances - normal meaning that he only saw her for a few minutes before she ran off to do some ninja thing somewhere else. However, he generally had the misfortune of being in the right place at the right time to catch the girl when she lost her balance and fell off of something, and just like with Sora, he couldn't keep himself from running over to rescue her before she hurt herself; a Cure spell could only do so much, after all, and smashed skulls were notably out of even a Curaga's league. Luckily, Yuffie seemed to be in a less annoying mood today, and had stepped back out of his face to stand beside him as she prodded at his arm.

"What's up with this?" she asked, running her fingers over the black fabric of the half-jacket's sleeve. "Leon know you're wearing his duds?"

Riku couldn't help giving her a sidelong glance. "I take it you don't know what happened today?" he said, and wasn't terribly surprised when her eyes grew comically wide.

"Oh, right!" the ninja exclaimed, facepalming. "I totally forgot the whole Sephiroth thing! Is anybody else hurt at all, or just him?"

"Just him," he answered with a tiny shrug, almost subconsciously checking that the passageway connecting their minds was still there. "Have you heard anything about how the healing's going?"

Yuffie pulled a face, beginning to toy with one of her kunai. "Aerith's working really hard on him, but..." She shrugged as well. "I couldn't tell if it was working or not, what with Sephiroth being all pale and stuff even when he's _not_ at death's door. Sorry." She glanced up at the dark sky, then took a step forward, obviously pointed towards Cid's, and though Riku silently wished she would choose another destination, he resumed walking, and they trudged up the hill together. In short order, they had reached the edge of town, and again Riku cursed the cobblestones that tripped him up while allowing Yuffie to trot merrily over them with no difficulty whatsoever. "Race ya to Cid's!" she exclaimed suddenly, her shove to get his attention nearly sending him down to acquaint his face with the ground, and Riku growled as he righted himself. Before he had even thought about it, he was pulling out his vial of pixie dust, sprinkling the most conservative amount possible on his shoes as he began to run. In such a small amount, the sparkling particles would by no means allow him to fly as Aerith had when Sora poured some of his dust over her earlier in the day, but they _would_ grant him speed, and maybe if he beat Yuffie in this impromptu race, she'd leave him alone - there were a great many annoyances Riku could put up with, but the young kunoichi was generally not one of them.

Increased speed was not the only advantage to the pixie dust, Riku discovered as he raced towards the black-haired girl, for the slight lift it granted him was enough to keep him out of the grasp of the cursed cobbles, and a smirk found its way to his face when he sped past an incredulous, shrieking Yuffie. "CHEATER!" she howled, and Riku could only laugh at the expression on her face when he glanced back at her. The two found themselves in front of Cid's light blue, soot-stained house in short order, surprise flitting over both their faces at seeing the man himself leaning in the doorway. Though the door was, almost literally, always open, the gummi engineer was rarely seen, spending most of his time in the town's hangar or his own workshop, and though the man was truly a genius, for some reason the things he built blew up more often that not (which resulted in the soot caked onto the house's outer walls). Yuffie was the first to speak, sauntering up to the house with her hands on her hips confrontationally. "Hey, geezer, quit blocking the door! Lemme in!"

Cid, in the process of lighting what was undoubtedly the umpteenth cigarette of the day, snorted and settled himself more firmly against the doorframe. "Go away, kid; you bother me," he said, and the familiar drawl combined with the smell of cigarette smoke brought a smile to Riku's face. _Good old Cid._ "What d'ya think you're grinning at?" Cid demanded gruffly, fixing Riku with a glare. Immediately, he banished the emotion, his expression becoming blank as he pulled in a breath and straightened his posture instinctively. For a beat, there was silence as the three of them regarded eachother, processing what had just happened. Then Riku was wishing he could sink into the cobblestones as Yuffie looked at him with pity and fright and Cid pushed himself off the doorframe to stand up straight, arms crossed over his chest and still glaring. "I said, what'd y' think y' were grinning at?" he repeated, and the tense atmosphere began to diffuse, hurrying itself out even faster when Cid reached out to smack Riku lightly over the head; his trademark act of discipline. "Whassa matter with you, boy? Get in the house right now, 'fore y' git rained on! Ain't y' got any sense?" Yuffie was the first to run from the situation, scampering into the house and audibly thumping up the stairs. Riku remained, stepping under the tiny overhang of the house and pressing his back up against the siding, hands in his pockets. He sighed as he turned his head to look over at Cid, whose eyes had never left him.

"So." Cid nodded slowly, expression oddly unreadable, though he was still frowning. "Wanna tell me what that *$#^ was about?"

Riku remained in his pose, face still blank. "You already know." The blonde's glare failed to budge. "You just want me to say it, then." Silence. "Alright. Fine. So Maleficent and Ansem screwed my head up and I still jump to attention like a good little brainwashed slave when anybody raises their voice like they used to. I don't know how to stop because it's not something I think about and do on purpose. Ansem's favorite thing to do was let the giant Heartless following him around sink its claws into me and pull me into the right stance if I wasn't to his satisfaction when he told me to stand up straight. Maleficent of course had that staff, and I don't think I even need to say anything else there. So yeah, that's my damage, to answer the 90's. Everybody's got some kind; mine just happens to be the kind that manifests at inopportune moments."

Cid regarded him silently for the next few minutes - the time it took Riku to slump again out of spite, at which point the mechanic snorted around his cigarette and pointed him in the house again. "Made Leon put y'all's clothes in the wash; they oughta be done b' now. Get in there and dry 'em s' y' c'n get back into 'em. Y' look like dang fool runnin' around in Leon's crap."

Riku rolled his eyes as he pushed past the middle-aged man into the chaotically comforting living room. "You're just jealous that I look good in it and you don't." Ducking the Gummi block was automatic, and he turned back around, grinning haughtily. Yuffie chose that moment to shriek out a war cry and tackle him from her vantage point atop the steps; the two went down in a heap, which Sora, who had woken at the racket, sprang off the couch to join. Cid himself came into the house a moment later, closing the door behind him to keep out the fat raindrops that had finally begun to fall from the sky. Unhurried and unruffled, he stepped unconcernedly over the pile of teenagers in the floor and headed through the kitchen to the laundry room (which was really more of a closet) to throw the boys' things in the dryer himself; they sure as #^$* weren't gonna do it. And for all he grumbled, he actually did love those dumb$^# kids.

* * *

Ah, Cid. I just love him, really, and somehow that's given him a fairly big role in this fic, just because he seems like - well, not really a parental figure, but something like it. Mature enough that the younger characters feel like they can come to him with their problems, but too irresponsible himself to force a bunch of rules on them, and it just works out well for everybody. Anyway. Thanks again for reading; there is another chapter after this, and a couple more in the works, because this thing just grabs hold of my brain and won't let go lol. Hope you're enjoying this non-canon madness ;)


	3. Chapter 3

I hath returned with more madness! I'm actually quite surprised by the number of people watching this story; I expected it to be very unpopular, actually, and yet, here we are. So here, have a darker chapter for your troubles. Try not to get too grossed-out, huh? I had a moment while writing and sort of veered off into horror territory for a minute, and the imagery is... not pretty. It honestly makes me wanna throw up when I read that particular section, so just a warning, it gets nasty for a minute. No warnings I can think of besides that, though, so if you're cool with icky imagery, read on! Oh, and if you listen to music while you read, for the end of this chapter (beginning when Sora and Riku return from training) I totally recommend the same songs I used while writing, Woods Darker Than Night and Final Breath from the Child of Light soundtrack. Prepare yourself for tears.

* * *

Sora sighed for the twenty-eighth time, and as every time before, Yuffie answered it with a more melodramatic sigh of her own. Riku resisted the urge to thread his fingers through his hair and pull until it all ripped out of his scalp. Beside him, Cid jabbed much harder than necessary at the whatever on the ash-covered coffee table; he'd been trying to work on it for a while, but with each obnoxious sound that left the keyblade master and ninja, it seemed more and more impossible a task, more because the mechanic was slowly destroying it than from the lack of ability to concentrate. The rain was still trying to beat the crap out of Cid's house, and though they were all anxious for a status update on Sephiroth (or maybe that was just him) they knew good and well nobody was going out in this kind of weather to tell them what was going on with a guy most of them intensely disliked. Riku stared at the vicious rain pounding against the skylight and subconsciously twisted his hands up in the worn-out fabric of the black micro-plush blanket he'd dug out of the hall closet. Absently, he thought vague thoughts about how many times it must have been 'wallered', to use Cid's word, and washed to be losing its softness on the inside. It must have been well-used, he figured, or else it wouldn't be like it was - if it was the washer and dryer tearing it up, both sides would have matched, but the outside of the blanket was still soft and smooth. He hummed a brief and toneless hum and unwound his hands so he could flip it over. Elsewhere in the room, Sora sighed again.

It was soft, but Riku gave his own, at the same time Yuffie did so it wouldn't be heard. If the rain wasn't going to let up, and it didn't seem inclined to do so, he may as well try to rest for the duration of the storm. He had had a pretty rough day. He drew the blanket up to his face as he shifted around underneath it, and pulled a top corner around to put between his face and the scratchy upholstery of the couch. It wasn't the most pleasant position for someone of his height, but he curled himself into a ball so as not to bother Cid and laid down, unsurprised to find himself not the least bit sleepy, so he got as comfortable as he could and let his mind wander beyond Cid's living room, flitting about from topic to topic with no rhyme or reason. His eyes remained open, because it felt stupid to bother closing them when he knew he'd just open them again, staring unseeingly at the wall.

He thought again about Cloud and Sephiroth's home world. What was it like? His earlier wondering about the climate had reminded him of something Aerith had once said to him about it being different from the worlds he and Sora had visited in the past, that it was much vaster and covered the surface of an entire planet. He still wasn't exactly sure what that meant, because what was a planet? She'd said there were several in their 'galaxy' and that on clear nights they could be seen sparkling in the sky alongside the stars, like bright, colored beacons, but Riku had looked at every sky over every world he'd been too, and he'd yet to see anything like that. Maybe they'd been the first to go when the darkness had started attacking celestial bodies...? In any case, Aerith had mentioned several different places that all seemed to have their own weather and climate, from the humid jungle surrounding Gongaga to the frigid mountains near Nibelheim. He wondered where Sephiroth's home had been there, then cut off that line of questioning before he got carried away thinking about him again; he'd had enough of asking questions he wasn't going to get answers to for one day, thank you very much. He couldn't help a quick 'look' inside his head to check that the passageway that connected his mind with the swordsman's was still there, though. It was, same as every time he'd done this earlier, and a wave of disgust rolled through him. He'd only just met him _that day_ and already he'd formed some kind of nervous habit concerning him. With a mental grumble, Riku rolled over to face the back of the couch, blinking in surprise when his nose hit a throw pillow that hadn't been there last time he'd checked.

"Use 'at," Cid commanded when Riku turned to look at him, the blonde man rising off the couch with a grunt and a stretch. "I reckon I'mon go upstairs and get me a sho'er too," he continued, indeed heading over to the staircase. "You g'head and stretch out, I know y' ain't comfy all scrunched up like 'at. Hey!" The unexpected shout caused Yuffie and Sora (currently slappy-fighting in the floor) to look up. "One'a y'all make y'selves useful and get that pizza outta the fridge and cook it." At the word pizza, a mad scramble for the kitchen began between the two, and Cid was forced to scream to make them acknowledge his additional command to cook the chicken wings he had in the freezer. Riku looked on, unable to help being amused, and Cid rolled his eyes when he saw the smile on his face. "You g'on to sleep. Don't help them, 'cause they don't deserve it. One o'us'll wake y' up when the food's ready."

"Thanks," he mumbled, fighting off a yawn that had come out of the blue. Then Cid stomped on up the steps and Riku snuggled down into the blanket until only the top of his silver head was showing, the edge now pulled over the pillow's rough weave, actually feeling tired somehow. He drifted off to the sound of the rain, possibly a bit more gentle than it had been, and the unmanly giggles coming from Sora's mouth as Yuffie both literally and figuratively argued with the oven.

~.~.~.~

 _"I mean it, kid. You don't wanna know."_

 _Riku stood his ground, crossing his arms and scoffing at the blonde warrior. "We've been over this. I'm going to find out what he was talking about whether you like it or not." Dream-Cloud's face darkened, and he took a step forward, suddenly seeming to be the most intimidating thing in all the worlds._

 _"He'll destroy you, you idiot child. Nothing good has ever come of that man, nor will it ever. Trust me," he continued, taking another menacing step towards him, and Riku took one back instinctively. "You're better off cutting your losses and getting away from him while you still can. If you hang around, your end_ will _come, and far sooner than it ever should. The name Sephiroth has become synonomous with death."_

 _And then behind Cloud a shadowy wraith formed from the same insubstantial substance and rose up to walk in their direction, its already-fading body flickering with the impact of every step. Riku wasn't sure if he could look for a moment, his downturned gaze catching sight only of the black boots, until he took a breath and raised his eyes to the specter's face. It was a horrific sight, and though he knew this was all just a whacked-out dream, he found himself forcing down bile. The Sephiroth coming at him was a mangled mass that could easily have qualified for an episode of the Walking Dead; a large wound, clearly from the Buster Sword the real Cloud always had strapped to his back, was gushing red, and, in a few brief seconds in which the blood seemed to have run out, it could be seen through. The rest of him was covered in some viscous liquid, light green and glowing, that as he watched was eating through his leather clothing to bite at his skin - the monstrous vision's unprotected hands, chest and face (the latter reminiscent of Harvey Dent's at the end of The Dark Knight) were blistered and bruised with chemical burns, some beginning to ooze what seemed to be black, diseased blood, except..._

 _Except, when Riku dared look closer at its left hand, he realized that it was more like the skin was decomposing, turning into a putrid sludge that did not drip, but stretched toward the ground in long, gooey strands. The silver-haired boy gasped involuntarily, and nearly vomited at the unbelievable_ stench _of the infection; he shoved his hands over his mouth and nose, hyperventilating into them and occasionally managing to gulp some of the stale air back into his lungs. Possibly the worst part of the whole vile thing was the bizzare, almost reptilian head clutched in the monster's right hand, which was inexplicably living, as evidenced by the single snake-eye that focused on his own, completely untouched and even seeming to thrive as more of the green liquid slid down what was once Sephiroth's arm and slid across its pale blue skin._

 _The false Cloud said nothing when the thing came close to him, merely stepping out of the way that it might shamble closer to Riku. The teen was on his way to a full-blown panic, struggling to hang onto the knowledge that this was only a twisted nightmare, no matter how terrifyingly real it felt. The... thing in front of him was not Sephiroth, because Sephiroth was in Aerith's house in the Garden, being healed from the injuries he'd sustained rescuing the real Cloud earlier. He had no idea if it would be there, but as the monster reached out its melting left hand, almost close enough to touch him, Riku cast out desparately for the link between them, praying to whatever deity might be listening that it existed._

 _The soft sound of displaced air startled him, and he whipped his head around to see what had caused it, nevermind the monster he knew the location of. But there was no beast standing before him - it was the Sephiroth he'd seen when he invaded the swordsman's mind on Merlin's roof, wearing the more subtle clothing and bearing only one wing. As he stared, mind going numb, said wing wrapped around his trembling shoulders, the tips nearly covering his face, and coaxed him close to Sephiroth's side, remaining draped over him as though to shield him from further sight of the specter. He looked through the gaps between the blue-black feathers anyway. The thing was upon them at last, that blackened and shriveled hand resting squarely in the middle of Sephiroth's chest. He failed to react, simply staring it in its cloudy eyes for a moment before flicking his glowing orbs down to the severed head, which to Riku's horror looked back._

 _"Jenova."_

 _The word echoed in the blackness they stood in. It was gone in a flash, but Riku swore he'd seen a flicker of emotion pass over Cloud's face, and at that point he realized that Cloud was capable of the same sort of thing his so-called darkness was. This was not a figment of his imagination, but Cloud himself. Outrage replaced the fear in his heart - he was just going to let that thing get him?! So what if it wasn't real; it was real enough, and Cloud... He hadn't tried to help at all, just stepped out of its way so it could come for him! Sephiroth's right arm wound around his upper back, his large, uncalloused hand reaching his arm just below his shoulder and giving it a squeeze._ **Later** , _his voice said faintly in Riku's head._ **I'll deal with him soon. For now, this** _ **creature**_ **takes precedence.**

 _He realized belatedly that the man was referring to the head rather than the zombie, only getting it when it spoke. "_ _ **Our son**_ _," it said in a voice that sounded like many all speaking at once, but each one was female. Sephiroth sneered at it (her?) and pulled Riku just a bit closer to himself. "You can't force me to say what you want to hear anymore,_ Mother _. I refer to you as such once and only once, Calamity." The head seemed bored, with what little emotion it could show on the remains of its face. Sephiroth's next words were a command. "Leave. Now. You have no business in this place, despite what Cloud may have implied." His gaze flicked over to the blonde warrior, and Riku knew he hadn't imagined it this time. Still, though, Cloud schooled his expression and said nothing._

 _"_ _ **Then you deny**_ _?" Jenova said challengingly, her mouth falling open to reveal sharp fangs as she hissed up at Sephiroth. "_ _ **You dare, when I have seen for myself that which cannot be anything but what it is**_ _?"_

 _"Yes," he replied simply, and dramatically swept his left hand out to the side, Masamune materializing in it much like Riku's Keyblade did, albeit appearing to immediately bear all its weight rather than being insubstantial for a few seconds and working up to full existence in their dimension. "I will not warn you again. Leave, witch, and take your ghoul with you." He chuckled darkly and flicked the blade towards the facsimile of himself, grinning sadistically when Jenova fell to what served as the ground, the zombie's severed right hand still tangled in her hair. "Or is it the other way around?"_

 _Cloud finally moved, stepping forward with the Buster Sword drawn and angled so that the hissing head could see it. "I think I finally know how you got here," he remarked in that quiet voice of his. Surprisingly to Riku, Sephiroth loosened his grip on his own blade and allowed it to fade back to wherever it would, gazing at Cloud pensively. "That's great, because now I know how to kill you." He moved, lightning-fast. Riku's vision was suddenly obscured, blocking out whatever Cloud was doing to cause that unearthly screech from the head and what must have been Zombieroth; the texture against his eyelids could be nothing but Sephiroth's feathers, and he struggled to fight his way out from under them and out of their owner's grasp. By the time he had, neither of the grotesque beings were anywhere to be seen, and Cloud had returned his sword to its spot on his back._

 _"Wh-?" he tried, but Sephiroth shook his head and placed his right hand in center of his back, pushing him further into the blackness. He drew close again, though not to the previous extent, and spoke to him in a guilt-laden voice. "I am sorry that you had to see this, Riku. It's my fault she escaped here." He didn't even get to make a sound this time before Sephiroth was talking again, this time to Cloud, who had fallen into step with them on Riku's other side. "And you. I'm grateful you were here while I was still on my way."_

 _The younger swordsman shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah, well. I didn't think anybody else should have to deal with her alone."_

 _"I second that," Sephiroth agreed, slipping his hand off Riku's back when Cloud stopped walking and turned to face him. Riku looked at him warily, still understandably upset by his earlier actions. Cloud sighed heavily and stared at the ground that wasn't. "Sorry, Riku. I know what that looked like, but you have to understand, until I'd figured out_ how _that_ thing _was even in here to begin with, there was nothing I could've done to help you, and I probably would have made it worse if I tried."_

 _Riku could feel that his face was still in a frown, but he couldn't smooth it. "...Yeah," he said noncommittally in response to Cloud's spiel, then looked between the men beside him. "But what was that thing anyway? I don't-"_

 _"Hush." He shut his mouth as Sephiroth began pushing him along again, feeling somewhat like a prisoner. "If I live, I'll explain it to you. If I don't, all that matters is how deeply I apologize for putting you through this." Yet again he was cut off before he could say a word. "Now hurry. You need to get out of here before one of your own demons appears in our path." Riku held his silence this time, expecting more, but all that happened was a quickening of pace for all of them, until there was some kind of transparent barrier in front of them, and both his escorts stopped short._

 _"What is that?" He turned to look at them, but there was only him - Cloud had disappeared, leaving only Sephiroth to answer his question._

 _"That is the line you must cross to reach safety. I can't go with you," he said, expecting the following inquiry of why he'd stopped. "And you can't stay here. It's more dangerous than you can know." In this place that thus far had been void of environmental sensations, a cold gust ruffled Sephiroth's hair and feathers. "Speak of the devil," he growled, and fixed Riku with a hard stare. "Go now, or I can't guarantee you your life. Cross through the shield, and be quick about it; I have to leave you as well. Move, Riku!"_

 _The last was shouted at him loudly, and the teen hastened to obey, tensing, but running through the strange barrier and a ways beyond. When he dared glance back, there was a massive shadowy form at the wall, seething at its inability to reach him, and of Sephiroth there was no trace. Riku shivered, and felt something soft brush against his face. His eyes were already open, but somehow, he opened them again._

~.~.~.~

"Geez, wake _up_ already!" Yuffie groaned. Riku grunted, pulling the blanket further over his face until the ninja snatched it away. Vaguely aware of the world, he realized he could still hear rain on the roof, and he opened his eyes, confused by the odd thought that he'd already done that. He was still on the couch, now sans his nice warm blanket, with Yuffie hovering over him and Sora arguing with someone elsewhere in the house. Clanging sounds confirmed that Cid was in the kitchen, and the mouthwatering smell of Italian spices indicated that the promised pizza had been removed from the oven, just waiting to be bitten into. Though he was still a bit tired, Riku hauled himself into a sitting position and stretched his arms up over his head, lowering them after a satisfying pop emanated from somewhere in his spine.

"A'right, y' buncha animals! Git in here and fix y' plates, 'cause I ain't'a doin' it for ya'!" Yuffie was a streak of orange heading for the kitchen, and Sora came into sight a few seconds later, stopping to offer him a hand. Riku smiled a little and took it, allowing his friend to pull him to his feet.

"Good nap?" the brunette asked conversationally, and he shrugged. "I guess so. I don't remember it, so I must've slept good." Sora laughed, but it sounded a little forced. Riku's smile slipped away. "Hey," he prodded. Deep-ocean blue eyes flicked in his direction. "Who were you arguing with when I woke up?"

Sora bit the inside of his cheek, looking conflicted, which prompted Riku's hackles to raise. "Sora," he said emphatically, and the other boy cringed. "Who were you talking to?"

"Nobody," came the answer as Sora sped up so that they no longer walked side by side. "It's no big deal. Now c'mon, let's get some pizza before Yuffie hogs it all!" Riku said no more on the subject, throughout dinner or afterwards, but Sora continued to avoid him that evening, as much as he could given the dimensions of Cid's house. When Riku headed upstairs to sleep in a real bed that night, his dreams were scattered, and strangely centered around a blue-skinned Medusa commanding an army of zombies to take over the worlds. When he woke up panting from a vivid scenario in which a single gruesome zombie was limping towards him carrying Medusa's head in its hand, he vowed never to drink pickle juice on a dare again. Or maybe just never accept dares from Yuffie again, whichever came first.

~.~.~.~

After a dream like that, it was only to be expected that Riku had found himself unable to get back to sleep. The rain still hadn't stopped, which was really starting to concern him - storms in the Garden were not supposed to hang around for days at a time - and what little light the sun had to offer the morning was weak and watery, painting the sky a pale and shadowed blue, although that could have been chalked up to the hour, which the clock on the oven proclaimed to be 6:04. At about half past seven, when Cid thudded downstairs and Leon slunk in through the back door, Riku took a break from staring out the rain-spattered window to silently greet them both with a cup of coffee blended to each of their tastes - a splash of milk for the the mechanic, loaded with sugar and creamer for the scarred brunette. His own mug, cooling on the coffee table, contained apple cider rather than the caffeinated concoction the other two were nursing; not only did it smell and taste foul, he hated how jittery it made him, and so stuck resolutely to his childhood favorite. The hour passed in silence, as Riku had nothing to say and neither of his companions seemed inclined to speak. The only sounds were the tapping of the rain on the roof, the dripping of the much-abused coffee maker in the kitchen, and the increasingly less-frequent plops of water dripping from Leon's hair and clothing onto the furniture.

Finally out of coffee to drink and things to avert his gaze to, Leon set his moogle-patterned mug down with a sigh and turned to face Riku. "I thought someone should tell you," he began, voice heavy. The teen instantly retreated inward, sifting through his mind until he found the doorway into Sephiroth's. Still there. Leon wasn't going to tell him he'd died overnight as he'd feared. "The healing isn't exactly going well. Aerith's not sure if he's going to make it through. She didn't want me to say anything to you, but considering that-" The gunblader cut himself off, which the silver-haired boy found painfully suspicious, but he knew there'd be no use trying to get it out of him and simply waited for him to continue. "Well. Anyway. I thought you deserved to know. ...Try not to be too upset if..."

"Yeah," he interrupted, seeing the older man struggling. It was clear he didn't want to say 'if he dies' but couldn't think of any other way to put it, and Riku didn't want to hear it. Best for everyone if they just avoided the whole thing. Leon nodded at him gratefully even as pity shone out of his eyes, and the room returned to silence once the brunette had placed his mug in the sink and bade the two of them good night/morning/who cares, quietly ascending the stairs to make use of one of the beds. Emotions oddly absent despite what he'd just been told, Riku stared down into the quivering surface of his no-longer-hot cider instead of out at the dampened world, just for a change of pace. Eventually, Cid got up and went to the kitchen, assumedly to get a refill, but that theory was shot down when the gummi genius failed to return. Clanking sounds ensued, as did the crackle of a radio being turned on, and low strains of music began to drift out into the rest of the house, followed by a symphony of shuffles and slams that suggested breakfast was being made, such as the unmistakable swish of a whisk against the sides of a bowl.

In all honesty, once he realized what was going on, Riku thought about getting up and giving Cid a hand; he'd already done more than enough for the hapless souls who wandered through his door without cooking for them, and it was only right that they should help him out - and yet, for some reason, the former servant of Ansem found that he just couldn't make himself get off the couch and be useful no matter how hard he tried. With an imperceptible sigh, he gulped down the rest of his cider, grimacing at the lack of taste in the cold liquid, and gently plunked it on the table so he could flop backwards and cover up with the blanket from yesterday. He was still far from sleepy, but at least it would ward off the early-morning chill. Soon enough, he could hear something sizzling, and the tantalizing scents of bacon and pancakes were detectable. Riku inhaled deeply, reflecting once more on how he should _really_ get off his butt and help Cid out at least a little, and continued to sit on the couch, scrunched up under the soft side of the blanket. When what could only be described as sawing sounds joined the orchestra and he caught a whiff of fresh strawberries, it occurred the silver-haired teen that maybe he  wasn't supposed to help the grizzled mechanic - every item he could smell being prepared was on the list of his favorite breakfast foods, and that was just not normal. Sure, Cid had grilled Sora and himself on what they liked to eat once he realized (and they admitted) that they were going to be stopping by on a semi-regular basis so he could keep something in stock that they'd enjoy rather than choking food down for the sake of eating, but for him to be making an entire meal based around Riku's personal favorites...

A shiver went up the islander's spine, and he clutched the battered blanket closer about himself, feeling small and cold. Whatever Cloud kept trying to dissuade him from finding out, everyone else already seemed to know. Somehow, they knew what Sephiroth had promised to tell him if he survived, and now, in light of the fact that he might not, Cid was making breakfast with Riku's preferences in mind, almost like a consolation for the dark news Leon had delivered. A terrifying thought occurred to him then, and he scrambled to do away with it before it could plant itself in his mind, squeezing his eyes shut and thinking about something else, _anything_ else but the possibility that they were...

"Woah, Cid! You're making us breakfast?!"

Sora's pleasantly shocked voice was a welcome distraction, and Riku latched onto it like a drowning man would cling to a piece of driftwood, studying his friend as he bounded down the steps with a wide grin on his face. It faltered slightly when he caught sight of Riku already on the couch, but didn't seem to be false when he put it back and fell into the cushions beside him. "Man, this is the life, huh? I could get used to this." Riku's mouth answered without his mind's consent, but it seemed to be some sort of cocky agreement; he honestly wasn't sure _what_ he'd just said, but Sora had laughed merrily and started talking again, so it must have made sense to him at least. More thumping from the stairs announced that Yuffie was also barging down, drawn from her otherwise heavy slumber by the promise of food, and though it seemed like he'd  just gone up there, Leon also made his way down the creaky staircase, a free meal too good an opportunity to pass up. The breakfast table (simply the coffee table re-purposed, with everyone sitting on cushions in the floor so it wasn't too low) was lively, and Riku's brain finally caught up with the rest of the world again, allowing him to actually enjoy the food and the company, and even almost letting him forget the horrifying thoughts that had occurred to him shortly before. Sora told wacky stories about their adventures, gesticulating wildly until Cid clonked him for slinging syrup all over the place, and Riku made sure to jump in with the facts when the brunette got too far out of the realm of truth. The food was excellent, and overall, it was one of the best memories Riku had made in a good long while.

Now if only he hadn't felt like something, or rather, someone, should have been there with them. The Thought reared its ugly head and almost made him choke on one of his strawberries as he tried to repress it once again. "Whoa, you okay?" Sora asked, patting him on the back as he coughed. He nodded, still a little busy dislodging the fruit from his throat, but he was not so focused on it that he didn't see the _look_ Cid and Leon exchanged when they thought none of them were looking. The silver-haired teen retreated inwards for just a moment, prodding uselessly at the barrier that kept Sephiroth's mind sealed off from his. _Who are you?_ he asked the door uselessly. The thought that came after slipped out before he could stop it. _Or maybe the question is, who am I...?_

~.~.~.~

It was late in the evening when Riku and Sora returned to Cid's house - despite the ongoing rain and warnings from the mechanic that they'd catch their deaths, they'd gone out to train - to find Cloud waiting for them on the beat-up blue couch, arms crossed and looking painfully bored, although his bright blue eyes zeroed in on them with frightening intensity when they came in. Sora tensed beside him, and Riku himself was wound tighter than a harp string. Cloud said nothing for several moments, standing silently as he studied them, drenched and trembling from cold and exertion, and in Riku's case, apprehension. Finally, he spoke.

"He's awake. He looks like he might crumble to dust if you poked him too hard, but he's awake. Aerith sent me to tell you, as promised, but-"

Riku heard nothing else but the rain drumming against the cobblestones and his skin, his splashing footsteps against the road, and the sound of his own heartbeat hammering in his ears as he raced out the door into the twisting streets, heading for Aerith's cottage. Another set of footsteps started up behind him; he assumed they were Sora's, but he was proven wrong when a far too muscular arm to belong to his friend pulled him back. He thrashed in Cloud's unrelenting grip, but the blonde warrior hardly seemed to notice, easily holding him in place until he could position him into a headlock, ensuring a stop to his struggling. "I wasn't finished," he said loudly to be heard over the rain, unperturbed by the downpour they were standing in. "You need to listen instead of running off into the rain like some stupid impatient kid. Consciousness doesn't mean cured. Yes, Sephiroth is awake and you can talk to him if you really have to, _**but**_ ," he said, putting heavy emphasis on the word as Riku began to squirm, nevermind that Cloud could crush him like a flower if he took the notion. "He could still die, and I'm talking any minute. Now look, Aerith's doing everything she can, but he was hurt, badly, and his... physiology, I guess you could say, makes it difficult for her to help him. I just don't want you to get hurt, Riku. Get this through your head, because I don't think you've really absorbed it yet: _He_ might _not_ _make_ _it._ Okay?! Do you understand?" He sighed quietly and softened his tone, though his volume remained necessarily loud. "I don't want you to have to go in there and watch him die. It might not happen, but in all honesty, I think he's headed that way."

Droplets that had nothing to do with what the sky was pouring on them made contact with Cloud's skin, discernible from the rain due to their warmth. He loosened his grip so that Riku could get out of the awkward position if he wanted to. The boy didn't move. "I'm not trying to be the bad guy. You may not understand why you've gotten so attached to him, but I do. Yes, I know the big secret. Almost all of us do, as I'm sure you've already figured out. Yuffie has no clue, but the rest of us know, and we can't tell you because it's not our place. If I could, I'd tell you, get it over with, but I can't. Only Sephiroth has the right to explain it all to you, and if he doesn't make it, you're better off not having to know. That's the only reason I tried to keep you from finding out. You can go to Aerith's and confront him, but if he doesn't see the next dawn, you'll have to live with that knowledge, and you shouldn't have to." Cloud started as he realized that he'd been stroking the teen's rain-soaked hair for the past several minutes, but he didn't react negatively - he may have leaned a little closer - so he didn't bother to stop. "Riku, you're Sora's best friend, and for more reasons that I can't explain, that matters. A lot. I don't want you get hurt. I already said that, I know, but it's the truth. I'm trying to protect you. Alright?"

There was still no answer from Riku, though there was a fair bit of shaking going on, and Cloud held back the sigh he wanted to heave as he dropped all pretense of what was once a very real headlock and took hold of the teenager's shoulders instead, turning him around so that he could see his face. His head was pointed downward, towards the ground, and Cloud hesitantly knelt so that he could see beneath the silver fringe, uncaring of the huge, icy, days-old puddle he wound up in. With his hair absorbing most of the rainwater, it was clear that tears were what was streaming down Riku's pale face in a deluge that almost matched the intensity of nature's own tears, bright ocean eyes obscured by the salty liquid. Cloud just barely felt the frown that settled on his face; the expression was so often there he almost didn't realize when he did it anymore, but this was on another level than his everyday glare. Something was wrong with this picture. Yes, they'd been speaking (or at least, he had been) on a sensitive subject, and Riku's connection with Sephiroth was powerful even if he didn't understand what it was yet, but still, what had been said shouldn't have prompted a reaction as bad as all this, these silent, shaking sobs that would have sent the teen splashing to the ground if Cloud hadn't still had a grip on him. That didn't fit with what he knew of the boy at all. Riku was very strong, and though he had some issues with his anger - which, who didn't from time to time, even if most people didn't go to the dark side because of it - nothing he knew of had ever made him behave this way.

Only just realizing that Cloud was no longer standing and could see him, Riku blinked his eyes open, and the look in them was something Cloud could only describe as haunted. "Riku," the blonde said, slowly and deliberately. "Are you okay?" He watched as the child's expression - because yes, he was still just a child - crumpled at the same time his knees buckled. Only his SOLDIER reflexes allowed him to catch the trembling teenager before he hit the ground. "Riku?" he asked forcefully even as the boy clutched at him, sobbing openly now. Cloud gave him a little shake, just to get his attention. "Riku, what's wrong?" Pale fingers tangled as best they could into the rain-slick leather of his shirt.

 _"He's gone,"_ came the whisper, and even though he had just finished saying that Sephiroth could die at any moment, the words were almost a physical blow. Cloud searched within his mind for the other swordsman's presence, which he had been using to track him ever since the incident at the Temple back on their home Planet. It wasn't there.

Sephiroth was dead.

He felt instantly terrible for it, but a wave of relief washed over him; he'd been so afraid for a moment that Riku had puzzled out the truth and that was the reason for his tears, but as long as he didn't know... And then the realization sank in: Sephiroth was dead. Still kneeling on the wet ground, soaked to the point that even _his_ hair was plastered down to his head, Cloud could think of nothing to say - could barely think at all, in fact. He had hated Sephiroth for so long, holding onto the grudge against him even after he learned that Jenova had been behind what happened to Gaia, not the man whose body she controlled, who was really the victim of their miserable story, simply because it gave him a reason to keep going. Sephiroth had humored him, obligingly playing the part of the villain because he too needed something to focus on. They had fought, yes, but in truth, the rivalry had been dead between them for years. When it came down to it, Sephiroth was one of the only friends he had. And now...

Now, down on his knees, Cloud could do nothing but pull Riku tighter against him as the heavens unleashed their sorrow upon the humans foolish enough to be in the way, a few tears cutting burning swathes down his cold-numbed cheeks as he tried vainly to shield his once-enemy's son from the bruising force of the rain.

* * *

Dude, I cried so hard writing this chapter. It was awful, although incredibly cool; right as I started writing this last scene with Riku and Cloud in the rain, it started raining for real, and with the songs I was listening to as I typed, oh my glob. I sat in my chair sobbing and trying to see through the tears to keep writing XP This fic just affects my emotions so powerfully. Hope you're enjoying it, too - the next chapter is already finished and I'll hopefully have time to post it soon. Fear not, this is not the end. That would just be wrong, am I right? ;)


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